"Everyone could see the talent: the gliding through pressure, the calm turns, the way he seemed to carry an extra second in his pocket, but the volatile situation at the club kept asking him for different versions. Some days he was an interior, some days he was the pivot and some days he was a box crasher. He quickly went from the future of the club to an emergency fix"
"Now, in January 2026, something shifts. Frenkie does not become Barcelona's leader in one cinematic moment. He becomes it in small increments, in the small choices that he makes that only look small until you realise the whole team is following them. When Barcelona's rhythm breaks, De Jong is trying to stitch it back together. When the night turns sour, like it did in Reale Arena, he is the one standing in front of it."
"If there is one phrase that can best encapsulate De Jong's former years at Barcelona, it is identity crisis. The club signed the Dutchman because he looked like a future backbone, a modern midfielder with an old-school gift of control, tempo and a lack of panic. In many ways, they thought they were signing their successor to Sergio Busquets. But Barcelona in the post-MSN years was in crisis and did not offer clean pathways for anyone."
Frenkie de Jong experienced a prolonged period of role uncertainty at FC Barcelona, shifted between interior, pivot and box-crasher positions while carrying visible technical talent. Financial chaos, tactical upheaval and a fragile squad limited clear pathways and exposed him to fickle fan reactions. The club once viewed him as a successor to Sergio Busquets but also treated him alternately as an emergency fix, luxury asset and transfer solution. By January 2026 he began assuming leadership through small, consistent choices that others followed. He now attempts to repair Barcelona's rhythm and stands up in difficult matches, emerging as the team leader.
Read at Barca Universal
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