Frenkie de Jong has seen his importance increase continuously at FC Barcelona ever since his arrival four years ago. He is currently an integral part of Xavi’s team and also has got the additional responsibility of being the team’s fourth captain for the upcoming season.
This would be the Dutchman’s fifth season at the Catalan club, and before kicking off this campaign, Frenkie appeared in an interview with El Periodico, which has been reported by Mundo Deportivo.
One of the questions he was asked about in this interview was concerned with how he has changed ever since he arrived at the club as a 22-year-old youngster:
“I don’t think I’m very different as a person. As a player, I believe not much has changed either. Perhaps there are some things that evolve, and it’s normal when you have years of experience.”
“I’ve now won my first League, which was something important for me. And now I want to keep winning things with Barça.”
The rapid growth of his importance at the club was also one of the subjects of this interview, especially as he was deemed transferable by the club last year, and now he is one of the captains. To this, the midfielder commented:
“The situation is what it is. Economically, Barça is not in its best moment. And they could make a lot of money from me. Maybe the club thought it was good to sell me and have that money. But I didn’t want to leave. I was clear about that from the beginning. I didn’t want to. That’s why I was very calm. I had made up my mind.”
While Barcelona were open to selling him, the player himself did not consider a move away from the club during this last year. Commenting on the reasons for this commitment with Barcelona, Frenkie said:
“I always wanted to be at Barça. In these first years, we hadn’t won the League, or gone far in the Champions League. We had only won a Copa del Rey. I had a lot left to achieve at Barça.”
“And I also saw that the team was improving that summer. High-level players were arriving. And that’s why I wanted to stay. It’s the club of my dreams, and I want to be here all my life. I didn’t want to suddenly leave.”
Lastly, the player was also asked about the source of his love for the Catalan club. The player had some highly personal reasons for this attachment to the Catalan club:
“My father is a big fan of Cruyff. And even on vacations, we would always go to the Costa Brava, sometimes even to Camp Nou to watch a friendly match. Or we would do the Tour at the Museum. The Netherlands and Barcelona always had a special connection.”
Frenkie de Jong will be one of the protagonists as Barcelona open their La Liga campaign tonight with the match against Getafe. He will be looking to contribute further to the success of his beloved club and build on the success that he and Barcelona achieved the last season.