Frenkie de Jong is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ajax.
Barcelona signed 21-year-old Dutch midfielder from Ajax for 75 million Euros, plus a further 11 million in variables on Wednesday, although he won’t start playing until next season.
Accord to FC Barcelona news, “FC Barcelona and Ajax have reached an agreement for the transfer of midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who will be joining the Catalan club from 1 July 2019. The player will be signing a contract for the next five seasons, through to 2023/24”.
De Jong has been compared to Barça legend Johan Cruyff, a comparison he vehemently rejects, “I feel honoured,” De Jong says. “But I don’t think you can compare the two of us. He is so much better than me. He had so much quality. I will never reach that level. I don’t want to compare myself to Cruyff. And I think people who do that don’t want me to compare to Cruyff, they just see similarities in us. But not the same qualities. I watch his videos and he was amazing; the way he moved with the ball, the way he saw the game.”
Watching him move around the pitch, orchestrating play, breaking opposition lines with his dribbles and using smart passes to manoeuvre colleagues like chess pieces, De Jong’s acumen for identifying and utilising space is striking. Like Cruyff before him, he plays football intelligently and intuitively, something he discussed in a recent interview with the guardian.
“When I am on the pitch I play on intuition but I think a lot about the game as well,” De Jong said. “With my intuition, it is not just that I receive the ball and always think ‘I’m going to do this’ straight away, even though it just happens that way sometimes.
“Most good players play on intuition. Everyone has a little but I don’t know if you can learn it. Sometimes I’m planning. I’m always searching for the pass. I’m always looking to see my teammate. ‘Is he free?’ Then you already know what to do. But sometimes the situation can change. Then you have to react and use your intuition. I try to have a picture when I receive the ball and know where everyone is. That’s one of the most important things for a midfielder.”