What Sunday’s Clasico showed is that Barcelona need more players than Lionel Messi to turn up.
One of those players is Frenkie de Jong, who cost the Catalan club 75 million euros plus another 11m euros in add-ons last summer.
Due to this high price tag and his performances for Ajax in last season’s Champions League, expectations were high upon the Dutchman’s arrival.
Yet, Barcelona are still waiting for De Jong to get back to those heights of last campaign.
One of the main explanations for this is his change in position, going from a holding midfielder at Ajax to a more advanced role as an ‘interior’ at the Camp Nou. Continue reading