Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Ajax midfield prodigy Frenkie De Jong who will join the club once the summer window opens on July 1st.
The 21-year-old will cost the La Liga leaders an initial 75m euros (£65m) – making him the most expensive Eredivise player in history – plus another 11m euros (£9.5m), agreeing a five year deal until the summer of 2024.
De Jong, whose other suitors for his for his signature included Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, has been considered on numerous occasions to be one of the hottest young prospects in world football.
Frenkie De Jong initially broke through the youth ranks at Willem II – even though many have claimed De Jong as a product of Ajax’s famous academy – joining Ajax for a fee of £250,000 in the summer of 2015, but was loaned back to Willem for one season. He then went on to spend one year in Ajax’s youth academy before being promoted to the first team towards the 2016/17 season, appearing in the final few minutes against Manchester United in Ajax’s Europa League final defeat. Since his debut that day, De Jong has never looked back.
The youngster made his international debut against Peru back in June, going on to win five more caps for his country putting in a fine and assured performance against world champions France registering the most touches and passes out of anyone on the pitch – only a small indication of his unerring abilities.
Upon the signing of De Jong, Barcelona’s club website described the midfielder as:
“a polyvalent player with an excellent reading of the game and ability to provide the killer pass.”
Remind you of any Barcelona legends?
If you’ve watched any of Frenkie De Jong, you would see why ex-Barcelona player and legend Xavi has been raving about the player for a long while now. Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was determined to get the deal done under the noses of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City – a deal which will see Frenkie De Jong earn a whopping 16m euros in wages.
The obvious question now is whether Frenkie De Jong could be worth the investment. Well, if his performances over the past year both domestically and in Europe are anything to go by, then Barcelona may have secured themselves a real gem.
Well, Frenkie De Jong offers both quality and versatility, two of the most valuable traits in the modern game. This is a player who has been exciting all with his ability to roam about in between defence and midfield. De Jong has be utilised in many positions for Ajax this season; whether its in defensive midfield – keeping things ticking over in front of the back line – in a midfield two pivot within a 4-2-3-1 set up or even at centre-back if there are a lack of options at centre-half. Frenkie De Jong has been a trusted lieutenant for Ajax coach Erik ten Hag this season, performing remarkably wherever he has been asked to play.
There is no doubt about it, Frenkie De Jong is a signing further reflecting of Barcelona’s desire to keep in line with their hallmark traditions of how to play football. The midfield signings of Paulinho and Arturo Vidal – sturdy additions, yes – have been a far-cry from the kind of attractive players and identity that you would associate with Barcelona. The arrival of Arthur Melo from Brazilian outfit Gremio in the summer, and his subsequent success in midfield, has slowly and assuredly placed Barcelona back in line with those traditions.
The signing of Frenkie De Jong takes Barcelona back down memory lane a bit towards the kind of player the purists amongst the clubs supporters and hierarchy desire and long to see. De Jong is the closest you can get to a long term understudy to Barca’s midfield enforcer Sergio Busquests. However, Busquests certainly has a few years left in him yet, but it doesn’t mean De Jong will not get the opportunity to learn from the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8nRqoy3IWA&t=15s
As well as midfield, De Jong’s ability to carry the ball out from the back would be an attractive proposition at centre-back when Barcelona are faced with much weaker sides who will likely park the bus. Deploying De Jong alongside Pique or Samuel Umtiti would almost be like having an extra man in midfield and will certainly hand Barcelona the advantage if they ever need to play an even more offensive game. However, considering the amount of centre-backs Barcelona have available to them, it will be unlikely that De Jong would be used there and he has stated in the past, the deep-lying playmaker role is where he feel he is at his best.
De Jong may not take his place in the line-up as soon as he joins the club in July. However, he will have a major part to play for the future which is further reflected in the investment and eagerness Barcelona have poured unto his securing his signature. Sergio Busquets will be 31 at the start of next season, and De Jong will be the obvious choice to anchor the midfield when Busquets requires a rest. It is very clear though, that Barca see him as the natural heir to Sergio Busquets’ throne. Similar to the Spanish international, De Jong possesses flawless vision, technical skills, ability on the ball and that wonderful knack of splitting defences with a telling pass like something out of the parting of the Red Sea.
Liverpool midfielder Gini Winaljdum gave a telling assessment of his international team-mate, stating that Ronald Koeman’s decision to base his midfield around De Jong’s abilities – the principle reason for the Netherlands’s recent resurgence.
“With his dribbles he always ensures there is a good connection from defence to midfield and from midfield to attack.”
“He is always able to create space because he is a) always available and b) with his actions he creates many situations.”
“He forces opponents to choose, they have to come out of position, lose their marker, which can automatically make space or give us a free man.”
“With Frenkie, I can play much more in the possession, so that in certain situations I also get close to the opponent’s goal.”
“Frenkie is so good”
Indeed, De Jong is so good, in fact, that he could just easily play in a more offensively minded role alongside Busquets, Arthur Melo, or Ivan Rakitic either in the 4-4-2 that Valverde commonly utilises from time to time or Barcelona’s traditional 4-3-3 set-up – playing either in Busquets’ anchor midfield role or on both sides of Busquets. De Jong’s excellent dribbling abilities and a keen eye for the impossible pass, he has occasionally been deployed as an attacking midfielder – the no.10 role – in the past, even drawing comparisons to Barcelona legend Iniesta and Deco. He could, certainly, be deployed in that role, but with Lionel Messi and Coutinho fully capable of playing that role, it does seem unlikely.
Nonetheless, De Jong still has plenty to work on, but at his tender age of 21, he is already looking like the complete player. His arrival at Barcelona in the summer may just be the time he takes his game to another level learning from one of the greatest players ever to grace the game. Barcelona sure have made a sound investment for years to come.
In Frenkie De Jong, we are looking at the future of Barcelona and Dutch football.
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