21 - Frenkie de Jong

[Obiaseti]

We aren't selling a starter before someone already taken his place in our XI. That has been the case for us for long time. FDJ will need to replace Raki in starting line up before the later get sold.



4 players for 3 slots, with 3 of them over 31 by the end of the year? I think we have a place.
Depending on plans with our Barca B midfield trio (Alena-Puig-Oriol)

I agree that in theory, we have a place but here are some things to consider:

1) Xavi and Iniesta played quite regularly till they were 33. Rakitic and Busquets definitely have a few more years in their tanks and are unlikely to surrender their spots easily. Arthur is developing well and would also need playtime.

2) As you rightly mentioned we've also got the Barca B players coming up as well. The other question is whether Coutinho is now a permanent fixture in the front three? He's gonna have to adapt more if he's to be our first choice LW. This would in turn spill over to the Dembele/Malcolm problem. If not he'd be competing for a midfield position as well.

3) The coach. Valverde and most conservative coaches would need quite a bit of convincing to drop a veteran player. For this, to work we'd need a coach who is very good at balancing squad rotation.

4) Luck and circumstance. Ultimately rotations are a lot easier if games play out nicely and you have an early lead. However, this isn't guaranteed. If we go on a run of tight games it's going to be hard to give everyone some time and coaches will most likely fall back on the more senior players.

The guy is a great talent and I'd love to see him here but the fact is there are a lot of factors to consider. Not saying it's impossible but it would be a lot smoother if we could give it at least one more season. Buy and a loan would be ideal if possible.

 

[Barcaman]

If we are to play with 5 midfielders then there's a place for him. Besides, Rakitic and Busquets aren't getting younger.

 

[Mrgandalf]

The fact is that the better must play. Same as umtiti vs mascherano... Or Arthur vs vidal. Of course there are differences in the features of each one, but generally the better player of each post must play. Otherwise the coach is stupid or tata martino.

 

[DonAndres]

I don't see how there isn't a place for him. If Dembele improves enough to lock the LW spot for himself and move Cou back to midfield, we need FDJ to transition past Busquets. If that isn't the case and Cou stays up front, we will need someone to transition from Rakitic.

The fact is we have 2 spots in midfield that we will have to overturn soon and FDJ only even fulfills 1 of those, though it could be either one due to his versatility. Raki and Busi have upped their form but it is clearly in part due to Arthur making them look better and we can't just hope for the best with these extreme hot/cold streaks in a crucial area of the pitch.

FDJ has killed it against the past 2 world champions in France and Germany as well as many great performances in the CL/CL qualifiers. The only bad games I've seen him play this season have been when he got pushed back to CB out of necessity. I believe he's certainly capable of challenging for starting positions from the moment he arrives. If you think this is a far fetched notion then look no further than Arthur who has become near indispensable so early on in his tenure.

It isn't wise to be like Bayern and wait until squeezing out the very last drops out of declined players to finally replace them (Ribery, Robben, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, etc). We've already made this mistake to an extent with Iniesta/Xavi/Alves. Only Mascherano's decline and Valdes' departure were appropriately addressed out of recent cases. You could say so for Alba/Abidal but that was longer ago than the others.

 

[Nothanks]

coutinho-------suarez--------messi
------arthur--------------rakitic
----------------busquets
--alba----umtiti-----pique----roberto
----------------ter stegen

Subs:

-dembele--------munir-----malcom
---------alena----------vidal
-----------------de jong
???----lenglet-----------de ligt------semedo
-----------------jasper

very fifa / football manager esque but one can dream i guess

 

[Donatello]

Another solid performance from De Jong. This guy is a must, might be able to fulfill that CAM position, which Coutinho was brought for.

Koeman should be considered for sure while looking for Valverde replacement. On a plus, he was a former Barca player as well.

 

[Total-Football]

man of the match today vs france. He is playing at a level very close to prime Buskets.

 

[Kul_z]

man of the match today vs france. He is playing at a level very close to prime Buskets.

I've watched second half only, he was brilliant. Like impressive brilliant

 

[KingLeo10]

BBZ going to be in here claiming we shouldn't buy him and keep rakitic.

 

[Devils]

Better than Mbappe.

 

[Xaviniesta]

I love this guy. When he made that tackle on Kante I almost nutted

 

[FCBarca]

An absolutely absurd talent, failure to acquire him will sting for a decade - likely to be between us & City/Pep

 

[Devils]

Both him and De Ligt are must buys.

 

[KingLeo10]

coutinho suarez (new striker) messi/ arthur de jong busquets/ alba de ligt umtiti semedo (or new RB)/ MATS is the next barca dream team.

even valverde can play attacking football with this lineup.

 

[kistedu]

He looks like he is playing against any random Dutch team and not against the world champions. No one can intimidate this guy, he is just not impressed by any opponent.
What a great skill is that.