Now in his fifth season at FC Barcelona, Frenkie de Jong is one of the most important players for Xavi and is also one of the four first-team captains. The Dutchman has seen both highs and lows during his time at Barcelona, but there is no doubt about his commitment to the Blaugrana club.
In fact, playing for Barcelona has been a dream for the Dutch international, as he himself disclosed in a recent interview with the Dutch news network, NOS. The midfielder clearly stated that: “I am at the club where I always wanted to be, where I dreamed of.”
De Jong, who won the Spanish Super Cup and La Liga last season, was hopeful that he can win a lot of trophies with Barcelona in the future, but also confessed that he also has some room for growth:
“I haven’t won the trophies I want to win yet, and I’m also not the player I want to be. There’s still room for improvement, and I have time, but ideally, I’d like to get there as soon as possible.”
Talking about his role on the pitch, De Jong shared that goals and assists were not what he plays for, and he wants to shine in other ways:
“You can be decisive in different ways. Being decisive is often linked to goals and assists. For my position, it’s different. I want to be important in a different way. In that aspect, I can still improve, and I’m not yet where I want to be.”
While admitting that the team has not been at its best this season, Frenkie de Jong was hopeful Barcelona can turn things around in the business end of the season:
“We’re not in a good position in the league, that’s just how it is. But we still have another half of the season to go. You never know. In the Champions League, we finished first in our group. That’s simply good. There’s still a lot to play for.”
A lack of consistency was identified by De Jong as one of the problems plaguing Barcelona this season: “We have a talented squad, but we’re not consistent enough. I’m not exactly sure what that’s down to.”
However, the Dutchman, who himself recovered from a moderately long injury recently, also believed that injuries played a major part in keeping the team from getting results:
“If you’re missing five starting players, every team becomes weaker, that’s the case for us too. Hopefully, we can play with the same team for a long time this year and everyone stays fit. Then things will definitely improve.”
