FC Barcelona had Lionel Messi on its roster for 16 years, one of the players with whom most professional soccer players wish to share the field at some point in their lives. Undoubtedly, this was the determining factor for many players to sign for FC Barcelona over the years. In this case, Frenkie de Jong signed for the club in 2019 in order to fulfill two of his dreams: to play for FC Barcelona and to play alongside Lionel Messi. Frenkie de Jong gave an interview to Netherlands media, Voetbal International, where he expanded on his experience playing alongside Lionel Messi.
“I had never seen such a big difference between one player and the rest. Whatever we did in training, Messi was always the best…He sees solutions on the field that you, as a coach, can’t think of beforehand,” stated Frenkie. It is normal that the difference between Messi and the other teammates is immense because the Argentine is one of the best players in the history of soccer, winner of 8 Ballon d’Or, a FIFA World Cup, Copa America, Champions League, LaLiga, among other trophies that made him the player with the most trophies in the history of soccer.
Frenkie de Jong and Lionel Messi shared a team for two seasons: in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, as Messi left for PSG in the 2021/22 season. During those years, Frenkie de Jong managed to win only one Copa Del Rey while sharing a team with Lionel Messi. This lack of ambition on the part of FC Barcelona has led the Netherlands player to have doubts about his continuity in the team.
“People think I want to stay in Barcelona forever because life outside soccer is good here. It is good, but that is less important than what happens on the pitch. If I feel I can’t contribute enough, or if the team can’t compete, I would leave…I have to admit that when I signed for Barcelona I didn’t imagine winning just one league, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa after four years. I expected at least double that, so that disappoints me,” stated de Jong to Voetbal International.
Frenkie de Jong of Barcelona and Lionel Messi of Barcelona interact during the UEFA Champions League Group G stage match between Juventus and FC Barcelona at Juventus Stadium on October 28, 2020 in Turin, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors.
The relationship between the player and FC Barcelona has not been very fruitful, as Frenkie arrived at the club in the midst of turbulence and a scandal with the previous board, which today is accused of fraud and mismanagement of the club’s money that caused the club’s squad to be weakened financially and in terms of players. Right now, the club is much more stable, but Pablo Gaviria “Gavi” and Pedro Gonzalez “Pedri” seem to have taken away the team’s starting position, so Frenkie would be a rotation player with a multi-million dollar salary.
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Kevin-Prince Boateng had already praised Lionel Messi for his exceptional level in training
Kevin-Prince Boateng was Lionel Messi’s teammate the 2018/19 season arrived on loan from Italian club Sassuolo to reinforce the team as a substitute striker for Luis Suarez. Boateng went on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel where he confessed that Lionel Messi did not fail in training. “We used to kick from outside the box after practice. Brother… out of 100, 98 were goals. I’m telling you, it’s not normal. To the top corner, bang, against (Marc André) Ter Stegen. I said to him in German ‘come on man, what’s going on’, he said ‘I can’t’. It’s the perfect tempo, right into the corner hit the post…The two or three shots he missed, the goalkeeper made an incredible save, not that he missed the target. He never missed. It’s unbelievable. It’s not normal.”
Frenkie de Jong has faced criticism over false rumors about his image
Multiple rumors about his salary and constant injuries have strongly affected Frenkie’s image in Barcelona, as rumors indicated that the player was paid a salary of 37 million, which the player himself denied: “They say ‘this one is earning a lot of money, he says he doesn’t want to have surgery (ankle injury suffered in April 2024 that kept him out of the field for 162 days)… that he’s taking a vacation, that he’s not training,’ but the reality is different. It hasn’t been like that…There were figures like 37 million (about his salary) or something like that and the reality is very, very far from that,” stated Frenkie to the Spaniard media, Mundo Deportivo.
Hansi Flick has commented on several occasions that he is counting on the player because he likes his characteristics. However, his contract expires in 2026 and, according to Adrian Sanchez of Spanish newspaper MasQuePelotas, FC Barcelona has grown tired of waiting for the player to accept a renewal offer and he could be sold in January or July. Everything indicates that the relationship between Frenkie De Jong and FC Barcelona is broken and he could soon leave the club.
