Since the last month or so, there has been a lot of uncertainty regarding the futures of some of the FC Barcelona players. Important players like Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong have been strongly linked with moves away from the club.
The Dutchman has been particularly in the news because of his contractual situation but came out to put the record straight in the press conference ahead of the match against Napoli.
Now, as SPORT has reported, he has also been supported by the Barcelona Sporting Director, Deco, who made it clear that De Jong was an important part of the squad, and the club is happy to have him:
“Frenkie is human. Things are said that aren’t true… He was upset about some things, but what’s important is that he’s happy to be at the club. We’re also happy because he’s a very important player.”
Deco also explained that nothing has changed regarding Xavi’s future at Barcelona and that the club was only focused on the current task at hand, i.e., progressing to the next round of the Champions League:
“Xavi has already said what’s going to happen. Talking about Xavi is talking about the same thing. He’s the coach until the end of the season. We’re not going to be talking about Xavi every day. The important thing is to advance in the elimination round.”
Although Barcelona were not able to win their first leg of the Round of 16 tie against Napoli, Deco highlighted that being at this stage of the tournament was an achievement in itself for the Catalan club: “Being here shows that we’re doing things right.”
Deco also pointed out that Napoli are the Italian champions, and getting a victory over them was never going to be an easy task: “They are the reigning league champion. It has lost two key players, but still has players of a high level.”