Frenkie de Jong, a Barcelona player, grants a long interview to The Guardian in which he reviews his entire stage at the Camp Nou. The Dutch international, who arrived from Ajax in 2019 in exchange for 85 million euros, explains how his integration was, his future, his relationship with his teammates, the figure and departure of Messi, etc. These are the most outstanding statements of the culé midfielder:
Messi’s departure: “I thought it wasn’t true. I was picking up my brother and my father from the airport and I got a message: “Messi is leaving Barcelona.” A little later I got more clues that it was really happening. You can believe even if there were rumors in the summer. I never took them seriously so when it happened it was a shock. He was the symbol of the club, when he left it was a huge blow to all of us. We still miss him. If anyone As he is no longer at the club, things are very different.”
Play with Messi: “If you have a player like that on the field, you try to look for him as much as you can. The game adjusts to him, which I think is logical. When he leaves you have to adjust to it as a player and as a team.”
Messi is the best: “I think he is the best and in many aspects of football. When we did finishing exercises, positioning or others, he was always the best. For me he is the best ever“.
Relationship with Busquets, with whom he has direct competition: “I notice” That you come is great. If you need anything I’m here to help you. When I arrived in Barcelona, he recommended a restaurant and booked me and my girlfriend Mikky. She also informed the owner that we were going and everything was ready for us. I never had that feeling of “as a new medium comes it means I’m not going to play. Everyone wants to help you. The best are going to play and only you can change that. Nobody blames anyone for not playing and I think we all feel same”.
Learn Spanish: “It’s not fluent yet, but I understand each other. For the first time I’ve lived away from the Netherlands in my life, the transition wasn’t that big.”
Barcelona: “I am very happy to be in from such a young age. I always wanted to come here. In that sense, it is a dream come true. But of course I would like to earn more than what we earned in my first two years. I expected more in that sense and we are looking for the way. But I am very happy and I hope to be many more years”.
Xavi-Koeman comparison: “There are things that are the same, because at Barcelona there is a certain way of playing, but each coach contributes his details”.
Xavi, him and playing as a midfielder: “We are both midfielders and we play in a similar position. He can teach me a lot. Sometimes, I go to his office and he plays video clips of my games and explains what he sees and where he thinks I can improve. We watch videos about how to position myself and what can be improved in certain situations.
Your best position: “I don’t have a defined position. The one in which I play the best is the one where I can get in contact with the ball a lot”.