 I see myself playing here for a long time. I don't really care if there are rumors about if I go to another team, don't see it happening to be honest, but of course when it happens it will disappoint me. Whether his performances today show it or not, young Frankie De Jong had that talent that sparked that only the most highly touted players do. That sparked to be remembered for years by the town that you grew up in and to have your youth kit on the walls of your local pub. That's how Frankie is remembered in Arkel Hollins today. However, the key point in his history that we must focus on is his time at Ajax. Frankie didn't have the same jump to start him as a teenager that we have seen with Gavi and Pedri, because after making his debut in the ERA DV set two days before his 18th birthday, Frankie would only see 101 minutes of top flight football by the time he turned 20. But with all the injuries we've seen from Pedri, that might not be a bad thing. Allowing him to excel in the youth team, receiving many accolades and allowing him to grow his understanding of the game. His former Ajax coach remembered that even in his youth, Frankie De Jong played with a certain risk about his game. Constantly carrying the ball past three or four players, potentially leaving his defense exposed solely to open up options on the attack. That is the essence of Frankie football, and soon his risky play would be looked at more as an asset than a liability. When Eric Tenhag was appointed Ajax manager in December 2017, Frankie De Jong's position as the libero in Ajax's starting lineup was sealed. In the following season, Frankie played with so much confidence in his play to continue his marauding runs no matter the opposition. What he did against Groningen in the league is exactly what he did when they knocked out Juventus and Real Madrid in the Champions League, helping Ajax to make one of the most incredible runs in that competition in recent years. By the end of that season, he was being pursued by all of the best clubs in the world. But for him, there was only ever one, FC Barcelona. However, something would arise from this signing that followed Frankie and overshadowed much of his Catalonian career, his price tag and contract. Bartomeo was the club president at the time, and he will always be remembered for the financial lunacy that his regime forced upon Barça, helping to push them into the severe debt that we see them in today. And you will soon understand why, but Frankie and public opinion of him have been a victim of this. Barça would eventually pay Ajax a total of 86 million euros for the Dutchman's services, at the time making him the most expensive midfielder of all time. With a title like that, any player would have an insane amount of expectations thrust upon him. However, his contract may have made it even worse. Bartomeo and his goons would give Frankie an insane contract that would quickly rise to unsustainable levels, eventually leading to the point where the club had to ask him to defer some of his payments just two years into his contract with Barça. Which is why today, he is the second highest paid footballer in all of Europe. Frankie has been one of the most consistent players for the Blaugrana since he joined, playing more than 2,000 minutes each year and being relatively injury resistant, something we have not been able to say about any of our top signings for a very long time. But just like in his first few years at Ajax, his first few seasons at Barça were a bit restrained and he wasn't playing with the freedom that he learned in the last season at Ajax. With Barça's mentality of obsessive ball possession and circulation, Frankie just did not necessarily thrive the way he did at Ajax. And a lot of people at Barça probably thought of Frankie as the boost gets pivot replacement, but he failed to impress there because everything that made Frankie so incredible at Ajax did not exactly blend well with what is required from the Barcelona pivot. Busquets is a tidy, safe and intelligent player that rarely ever leaves the defense exposed. De Jong is different. Frankie is better at a lot of things than Busquets was, but a lot of those things that Frankie was really good at were just not needed from him or expected from him in the positions he played in. Now, if Frankie were a Spanish player from La Masia on Academy Team Wages, sentiment around his performances might have been a little bit different in those early years. In a lot of his games, Frankie made important decisions on the offensive side and defensive side of the ball that saved Barcelona matches, and he still made those impressive runs that made his name at Ajax. While at Barça, Frankie was always adapting to whatever position they needed him, especially when Coleman was in charge who often played him as a center back. He was versatile and useful for the team, but when Pundit spoke about Frankie, it was rarely ever praiseful, most of them reminiscing about how incredible he was for Ajax and about how he never shows that anymore at Barça. At Ajax, he was the protagonist, the guy, and the team was built to allow him to play when he wanted to as a box-to-box or a number 10 or even a deep-lying six, depending on what he felt the team needed. When he moved to Barcelona, of course, he was never going to be that guy because he played on a team with Messi, the guy of all football. The Ajax team that he played for was one of the best Ajax teams in recent history and also played in a weaker league, so of course he shined, but when he joined Barça, he joined a very struggling team, a team that was in their biggest stage of turmoil in years. Frankie was a victim of circumstance, and this would all come to head in the summer of 2023. After years of very decent service to the club, Barcelona thanked him by leaking the terms of Frankie Dayong's contracts to the Catalan media and forcing him out of the club. But because Frankie was playing for the badge that he always dreamed of, he proved to be a loyal player, something that a lot of players can't say today. So Frankie stood his ground and played out the 22-23 season on the same salary that Bartomeu had promised him, but by the end of that year, not much had changed. He played well, but a lot of his performances were outshined by other players on the team. He struggled with his final ball. The chance-creating pass into the box to help the team break down a low block was not materializing for him, and he needed it to, so he could really gain back the limelight that he had in his time at Ajax. But clearly, the Barça boards still believed that they were not getting their money's worth out of him, because they tried to sell him again in the summer of 2023, but it played out precisely as it had the year before, with Frankie sticking around and his contract jumping up very, very high. However, the beginning of the 23-24 season showed us that maybe, just maybe, Frankie's becoming even better in the side than he ever was at Ajax. Now, the team was far from perfect, showing lame performances in their opening match against Hitafe, as well as in following matches against Celta Vigo and Osasuna. But through all of that confusion came some very impressive performances from newcomer Joao Félix and 16-year-old Luminiumal and Frankie Dayong. After years of always missing something, Barcelona's new look midfield felt whole again, even without Pedri and with the aging Romeo and Gundavan. All of this came to be because of Frankie. Xavi must have finally created an understanding between the team and Frankie that allowed Frankie to play a much more cohesive style of football, more similar to his time at Ajax, even though his position is similar to the position he's played with Barcelona for the past three years. And Frankie seemed to have unlocked that final ball that could break down the flow blocks and open up matches perfectly. The team suddenly worked much more cohesively and played through the middle in a way that they haven't in a very long time because of the way that Frankie fit into the midfield puzzle. At the beginning of the season, from August 16th to September 23rd, Barcelona played seven matches, winning six and drawing only one. And Frankie started all seven of those matches. To be fair, a lot of these games were grinded out and Barcelona wasn't playing majestic football. However, the midfield was the one consistent thing in the team. However, the importance of Frankie wouldn't be known until he went off injured against Celta on September 23rd. Since then, Barca have played 10 matches, winning six, drawing two and losing two. Now, that's not a terrible record and it's absolutely not something where you need to call for Xavi out. But you can see in the eye test of watching the matches that Barcelona is not very good and it's far from a cohesive unit, a cohesive team that was felt when Frankie was in it. Without De Jong, they continually struggle to play through the middle and have a ton of trouble in buildup. Moving the ball forward from midfield, from the defensive line is Frankie's specialty and he was just beginning to look like the Frankie who played with joy and freedom at Ajax. But he was struck down when things were finally getting going and when the media wasn't obsessed with getting rid of him, getting him away from Barca to save them the money. No one was talking about the money because it wasn't important because he was playing incredible. Sure, the defense was streaky for the first time in a year and the forwards had a very bad case of hitting the post. But the midfield looked wonderful until Frankie got injured. But now Barcelona is terrible to watch and the only match that has been decent in the midfield for them since he got injured is the match that they lost against Real Madrid. In that match, Xavi from in Lopez and Gundavan looked good against a very talented and probably more comfortable Real Madrid midfield. But they still lost. However, this is precisely why I think Frankie can prove himself worthy of his paycheck. Let me explain. If Frankie had never gotten hurt, fans and the Spanish media especially would not have the proof of how poor Barca are without Deon. Now we can see that they are lame without him. It's even gotten to the point where people are calling for Xavi to get sacked. If Barcelona are able to turn the season around, it will be because of Frankie and there are several opportunities for them to do that. Sure, there's the league, but winning La Liga will not make Frankie worth his price tag. However, making a run in the Champions League could because Barcelona desperately needs to be put on the map as competitive in the Champions League like Real Madrid, like Bayern Munich. A claim that has been completely absent ever since Frankie joined the squad in 2019. If the team can top their group and get a decent draw from the round of 16, I think they are in a very good position to make that run because this group of guys can compete with any team in the world talent-wise, but only with Frankie de Jong on the pitch. If de Jong is injury-free for the remainder of the season and they make a run in the Champions League as well as winning either the Copa del Rey or La Liga, I think Frankie can prove himself worthy of his immense 38 million euro salary. But I know that this team, as it stands today, will not go anywhere without Frankie. So if they do go anywhere, it will be thanks to Frankie de Jong. Since you made it to the end of this video about an injured Barcelona midfielder, why don't you slide on over to this video about the season that practically broke, Pedri? But thank you all for watching and I'll see you in the next one. Peace.