De Jong: Why I almost turned down Barcelona

Frenkie de Jong admits he had doubts about initially moving to Barcelona.

De Jong joined Barca 18 months ago from Ajax and admits he spoke to Blaugrana coach Ronald Koeman, when he was still Oranje boss, about the move.

He told Esport3: “I asked him some questions about Barça and he told me positive things about the club and about the city.

“I had the feeling that Barça wanted to sign me but not to be a key player and that is why I was hesitating until Bartomeu, Mestre, Grau and Segura came to Amsterdam and they convinced me, because it was not clear to me that I was going to start at Barça.”

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On his current form, De Jong added: “I don’t know if I’m better than at Ajax, now I’m pretty good in the team, but I can give more and improve a lot. It gives me a lot of confidence and I feel very comfortable in the team.”