Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong "made the perfect decision", says Dutch legend Wesley Sneijder
In an interview with Sportsmail, former Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder said that Barcelona's acquisition of star Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong is a match made in heaven.
Barcelona considers Frenkie de Jong as one of the most important members of the side and jumped through several hoops to sign the talented Dutch midfielder from Ajax last year.
Barcelona acquired Frenkie de Jong for an initial fee of €75 million. The Catalan club faced tough competition from French champions Paris Saint-Germain to bring the Ajax player to Barcelona.
Barcelona is the perfect place for Frenkie de Jong, says Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder claimed that Frenkie de Jong made the perfect decision by joining Barcelona and said that the environment at the club would allow the young maestro to flourish.
De Jong has shown sparks of brilliance at the Camp Nou but is yet to reach his full potential at Barcelona. While this could be attributed to a lack of definition of his role in midfield, Sneijder called for patience and said that de Jong would prove his sceptics wrong and become a talisman for Barcelona.
"Holland and Barcelona have always had a great feeling. De Jong made the best choice because he understood that his football is perfect for Spain and Barcelona."
Frenkie de Jong picked up several unique footballing traits at Ajax. The Dutch giants share their philosophy and much of their history with Barcelona and are known to play a similar kind of football.
Both Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt were heavily linked to Barcelona last summer. While the former completed his dream move to the Catalan club, Ajax captain de Ligt chose to move to Juventus instead.
"De Ligt chose differently but Frenkie made the perfect decision for his life. De Ligt made a different choice but in my opinion De Jong is forward-looking."
Frenkie de Jong has been an outspoken member of the Barcelona side since his arrival and has shown improvement since his debut. Wesley Sneijder, who is an Ajax youth product himself, believes that his young compatriot could go on to become the leader of Barcelona after the retirement of a certain Lionel Messi.
"He did very well to choose Barcelona: it is a club suitable for him, when Messi stops with football Frenkie will become even more leader."
Frenkie de Jong is touted to take over from Sergio Busquets at the heart of Barcelona's midfield. The Dutch talent was the brains behind Ajax's brilliant Champions League campaign in the 2018/19 season.
Wesley Sneijder's comments came after Barcelona legend Ronald Koeman claimed that Barcelona is the right club for Frenkie de Jong. Koeman works with de Jong for the Dutch national side and has been able to bring the best out of the young midfielder.
Wesley Sneijder is the most capped Dutch player of all time. Inter Milan's former midfield genius retired from the game in 2019.
Frenkie de Jong certainly would not mind his illustrious Dutch counterparts validating his career decisions.