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Much to the delight of the fans of the Catalan Giants, Barcelona announced the signing of Frenkie de Jong for €75 million, the Ajax midfielder set to join on a five-year deal for the start of the 2019-20 season.
Previously linked with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, the Dutch prodigy has opted for Camp Nou but will remain in the Eredivisie for the rest of the campaign.
Barca have agreed to pay a potential €11 million in variables for the 21-year-old midfielder, who has helped Ajax reach the last 16 of the Champions League this season.
De Jong has developed into one of the hottest talents in European football and it is Barca who have won the race for his signature. It is, however, unquestionable that his arrival would have impact on many several things at Barcelona.
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#1 Completion of a midfield trio suitable for Tika-Taka Football
It is no secret that Valverde wants to properly implement the 4-3-3 formation in order to play Tika-Taka, the beautiful football FC Barcelona prides itself on. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets were probably the best midfield trio the Catalan Giants have ever had, and they played the Tika-Taka to perfection. Both Xavi and Iniesta have left the club leaving a huge void to fill.
While the process of filling Xavi's boots is underway with the arrival of Arthur Melo, Iniesta is yet to be replaced. Coutinho was supposed to replace him but he is not suited for midfield. Rakitic, who has been a good performer for the Cules, is just not suitable for Tika-Taka football. Moreover, the promising Alena is too young and inexperienced to start for the club. This is where de Jong will help.
De Jong is a really talented player who has all the qualities needed for an FC Barcelona midfielder: passing, vision, positional discipline, spatial awareness and resistance to pressing. With proper guidance, he may one day become as good as Barcelona's legendary midfielders. Also, there is almost no doubt that he will be better than Rakitic at the LCM position.
With Busquets at defensive midfield position and Arthur reminding us of Xavi, De Jong can be the missing piece in a midfield which could potentially be as good as the trio we all used to watch in awe.
#2 Departure of Rakitic, Rafinha and Denis Suarez
Currently, FC Barcelona have numerous talented midfielders: Arthur. Busquets, Rakitic, Vidal, Rafinha, Denis Suarez, Alena, Samper, Puig and Oriol. De Jong's arrival would further overstack the midfield options and obviously some players need to be offloaded.
The midfielders most likely to leave the club because of de Jong are Rakitic, Rafinha and Denis Suarez. Both Rafinha and Suarez have been recently been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou because of lack of playing time. Rafinha is, as of now, injured and will only move in the summer. Suarez has been linked with a loan move to Arsenal but the clubs haven't been able to agree on terms which means that a January move, as of now, looks highly unlikely. So, both Rafinha and Suarez are expected to call time on their Barcelona careers in the summer. The surprising inclusion is none other than Ivan Rakitic.
Rakitic has unquestionably been one of the most consistent players in the team and should be lauded for his commitment to the club. However, it is also evident from his playing style that he is not suited to the positional play at FC Barcelona. Moreover, with age not on his side, there isn't much scope for molding him. So, the arrival of de Jong surely means that Rakitic's time at the Camp Nou is coming to an end.
#3 Less burden on Messi
It's been so many years since Barcelona have played their game around the magician, Lionel Messi. This has come with a lot of responsibilities for the Argentinian maestro. With the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Neymar gone, Messi has further been burdened with more responsibilities. Nowadays, he is not only responsible for scoring a majority of the goals, but has also become the chief creator of the team. While he has been brilliant as usual with the highest number of goals and assists in the league, he is not getting any younger and his burden should be shared with quality players around him.
Although Messi doesn't have to play on the right flank to create chances thanks to Dembele's sensational performances this season, he still has to drop really deep in the midfield to create goal scoring chances with players like Rakitic not contributing much to the attack. Due to this, at times, Suarez gets isolated up front.
De Jong, being a creative midfielder, can certainly ease off the responsibility of creating chances from Messi's shoulders and even link-up with him, thus forming an incredibly creative duo on the pitch.
