The penalty of Frenkie de Jong in Barcelona

• Barcelona.Kubala, Czibor and Kocsis, the three great Hungarian stars who arrived from Ferencvaros

Josep Maria Bartomeu

was exultant.

Also

, CEO of the club, and

, then the sports manager.

The mobiles of the three emissaries who had come to Amsterdam to close the signing of

piled up congratulatory messages.

"We have just secured the future of Barça," wrote one of them referring to the hiring of the beardless Dutchman after a tough fight with PSG.

It was not the time to notice the price paid by a footballer who was then 21 years old (75 million euros plus 11 in variables).

Such had been his irruption in that dream Ajax of

-semifinalist of the Champions 2018-19 to the beat of

or

- that this operation could only be seen with good eyes.

They say that Segura began to cry.

Barcelona, ​​however, continues to search for a leader for its midfield.

That footballer who is capable of helping the centrals in the exit of the ball.

Let him set the pace and alternate between vertigo and pause.

That advance in the pressure.

And, above all, that he is capable of breaking lines, whether in driving, or with the pass.

All those virtues were what soccer, treacherous, sensed in De Jong.

Because he came from doing it at Ajax.

Without anyone taking into account that perhaps that jovial, beautiful and chaotic proposal, but also brief, might not have a continuation in the context of a twilight club like Barcelona.

Three different coaches

The first problem was found by

.

The confidence of the ex Barcelona coach in De Jong was full.

But he always gave the feeling that he couldn't place him where he wanted: as a defensive midfielder.

That position was defended by

, so De Jong had no choice but to try to mix from the inside with players as different as

,

or even

.

It didn't work.

Quique Setién

tried to take advantage of his deployment.

But the Dutchman was injured when he returned from confinement and his team lost the League with draws against Sevilla, Celta and Atlético.

Ronald Koeman

knew how to express De Jong's qualities in the Dutch national team, although always with a supportive footballer at his side to allow him to free himself.

In Barcelona, ​​waiting for

, who will accompany him in the double pivot is Busquets.

After the Sevilla draw, Koeman pointed out to his student: "He has lost too many balls."

In Getafe, he committed an innocent penalty.

And in his country, and despite his remarkable match against Italy, he is already treated as a suspect.

"He will soon be our leader in the field," they insist in the Barça offices.

This Tuesday, in the return to the Champions League against Ferencvaros, De Jong will return to his penalty.

To your sentence: meet expectations.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Ronald Koeman

• Frenkie de Jong

• Sergio Busquets

• Quique Setien

• Ernesto Valverde

• Arturo vidal

• sports

• football

• Champions League

• FC Barcelona

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