Frenkie de Jong was strongly connected with a transfer to Manchester United this summer, but the Barcelona midfielder has rejected the urge to make the transition.
He will captain Barca's midfield on Thursday at Old Trafford against the Red Devils, and Erik ten Hag, the former Ajax coach, is secure in the knowledge that his decision was the right one.
While Barcelona's financial condition meant they would have been content to remove De Jong's salaries off the books and bank a sizable transfer fee, Ten Hag was eager to reunite with the 25-year-old.
De Jong seems at ease in the Catalan capital, even though his fellow countryman Ronald Koeman's replacement as Barcelona's manager by Xavi Hernandez, who was less impressed with the midfielder acquired from Ajax in 2019 for $75 million.
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De Jong finally got to play for his ideal team, as his partner Mikky Kiemeney revealed on social media. She shared a photo of the player visiting Camp Nou as a fan in 2015.
However, the move turned into a nightmare as Barcelona experienced institutional, financial, and sporting issues, leading to the dismissal of coaches Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien, and Koeman.
Many believed that one of the all-time great midfielders, Xavi, would be able to aid De Jong in developing.
Yet Xavi frequently took him off too soon and was annoyed that the midfielder couldn't fit into his 'positional play' game plan.
De Jong intended to play as the deepest midfielder, but Xavi assigned Sergio Busquets to fill that position, forcing the Dutchman to play higher up.
But, he dug his heels in, determined to persuade the Barca coach and establish himself where he always longed to be, despite the "95 percent" completion of his trade to United, according to one Spanish newspaper in the summer.
De Jong is unhappy that inquiries about the legality of his contract, which has the signature dating to the catastrophic times of Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency, had been made. He accused Barcelona of leaking information about his agreement to the public.
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