It’s been over five years since former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu boarded a flight to the Netherlands to close the signing of Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
De Jong, now 26, was one of Europe’s most in-demand midfielders. He had fielded phone calls from Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel and Manchester City‘s Pep Guardiola, leaving Barça afraid they would miss out on the prodigious Dutch international. In the end, Bartomeu’s trip helped finalise a transfer worth an initial €75 million that was officially announced on Jan. 23, 2019, ahead of a full move that summer.
There have been over 200 appearances, one LaLiga title, four managers, one interim coach and many ups and downs since. At times, De Jong has looked like the generational midfielder Barça were so desperate to sign. In other moments, while his quality has never been in doubt, there have been arguments about his best role and whether he suits the team’s style.
It’s fair to say the chaos that has engulfed Barça on and off the pitch hasn’t created a prosperous environment. The turmoil even led to the club considering an offer from Manchester United for him in the summer of 2022 as a fix to its financial problems, even though he wanted to stay. Tension followed, with De Jong upset at his contract being leaked in the media and Barça — now under a different club president, with Joan Laporta taking the reins for a second time — even suggesting they could take legal action over the contract renewal he signed when Bartomeu was still president in 2020.
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A truce followed, De Jong won his place back in the side after that tricky summer of 2022, and he is now one of the team’s four captains. However, with last season’s title defence in tatters, coach Xavi Hernández stepping down at the end of the campaign and Barça still struggling financially, the Spanish media is filled with reports nudging De Jong towards a potential exit — and he is far from happy about it.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg match with Napoli, the former Ajax man held nothing back in an explosive news conference. He said he was angry and irritated by the lies about his future, his earnings and his contract situation, asking the local media present if they are not ashamed of their fake stories. “This has to stop,” he pleaded.
It has made De Jong — who still insists he is happy at “the club of my dreams” despite the noise — his future and his place at Barça front and centre of the conversation once again.
Under Koeman, De Jong showed a marked improvement in the final third, especially during the early months of 2021 when he scored five goals in 11 games (all competitions) and another in the Copa del Rey final win over Athletic Club — his first trophy in Blaugrana — as he appeared to be finding a home under his compatriot. That run of form was not sustained in part because he paid for his versatility, with the team’s injury problems forcing him elsewhere.
“In that period, Koeman put him as a right-sided No. 8 and he was very good because he was scoring goals,” Schreuder remembers. “Koeman wanted him to penetrate more, to get in the box and have more opportunities to score. But, also at that time, sometimes he played as a centre-back — for example a game in Paris — and also as a No. 6 or No. 8 next to Busquets.
“He’s an all-round midfielder. For me, his best position is No.6/8, but more like a No. 8 who can drop out as a No. 6 and speed up the game … or even a double No. 6 and in a free role with the ball. He dominates the areas where he is playing and is tactically a very good player.”
Any possible sense of stability soon disappeared. Barça threw away the chance to win LaLiga after working their way back into the title race, and Koeman was sacked in October of that year. Xavi, after Sergi Barjuán’s brief spell as interim coach, replaced him to become De Jong’s fourth different manager in three years.
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“He is laid-back, but so disciplined and determined to always get better. In training, he is one of those players that always plays with 100% intensity in everything he does. That’s what makes him special. He is always giving 100% both in matches and training.
“It’s funny because he shows so much character and personality on the pitch when he’s playing, that you would think he’s the same kind of personality outside the pitch, but he’s very humble and laid-back. He doesn’t want any attention actually, yet naturally on the pitch he takes all the attention with the way he plays, so calm and with so much confidence, trying to control the game.”
The De Jong dilemma continues
De Jong is averaging 108.31 touches per 90 minutes in LaLiga, the most by a Barça midfielder in a single campaign since Xavi in 2013-14 (minimum 900 minutes played). He ranks second in LaLiga in that statistic, behind only Real Madrid‘s Toni Kroos. To put that in context, De Jong ranked 43rd as recently as the 2021-22 season, and 13th out of Barça players who played more than 500 minutes in the league that season.
With those touches, he is averaging 87.73 completed passes per 90 minutes in the league at a success rate of 93%. Those numbers have never previously been above 75 or 92% and again, only Kroos completes more.
Yet when you watch De Jong, you don’t think of him as a pass-master in the style of his coach, Xavi; you think about what Setién says about the way he carries the ball. You think about that turn and run past Luka Modric on the edge of his own box for Ajax in the 2019 Champions League. You think about how Xavi purrs about his ability to “dividir” — basically break through lines.
“He is perhaps the only player at Barça capable of [those runs], while his level of athleticism is unmatched by the other midfielders,” one former coach told ESPN.
De Jong is averaging 73.12 ball carries in LaLiga per 90 minutes this season, ranking second in the league. That is up from 66.3 last season, and 25 more carries per 90 than the 48.55 he averaged in 2021-22. It is so often a huge weapon for Barça when the free man cannot be found.
Off the ball, his numbers are also better than ever. He is making 7.54 recoveries per 90 minutes, up from 5.58 in ’21-22. That ranks him 23rd in LaLiga for winning possession back — he has never previously breached the top 30 and was as low as 136th across ’21-22.
