- Frenkie de Jong has lifted the lid on the turmoil engulfing Barcelona following Lionel Messi's transfer request, calling it "a mess".
Frenkie de Jong has lifted the lid on the turmoil engulfing Barcelona following Lionel Messi’s transfer request, calling it “a mess”.
The 23-year-old is on international duty with the Netherlands as the Oranje gear up for their Nations League games with Poland tomorrow and Italy next Monday.
But with former national coach Ronald Koeman having recently departed for the Nou Camp, local media have been particularly focused on events at Barca.
The midfielder told reporters that he could not comment on the state of Messi’s mind, having not spoken to his club captain since the Argentinian informed the La Liga side via his representatives that he wanted to leave his boyhood club.
But de Jong revealed that the Nou Camp is not a happy place, with the team reeling from one crisis to another, on top of their talisman’s possible departure.
He told broadcaster NOS: “It’s a mess at Barcelona, so many strange things happening. It’s chaos.
“I haven’t talked to him (Messi) about this myself. Nor the club. So I honestly do not know how it is. But if Messi really leaves, it will be a huge blow to the team and the club.
“When I come back after these international matches, I will see what has happened at the club.
“I didn’t call him. I think enough people want to know about him. I don’t have such a good relationship with him that I call him and ask him how it is.”
The former Ajax Amsterdam star, who left the Eredivisie side last summer for Barca, also said Messi was still inside the players’ WhatsApp group chat. That has lent hope the 33-year-old can still be persuaded to stay, but presidential candidate Victor Font believes it is a lost cause.
Font is one of the prime candidates to succeed embattled Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu in the next elections in March, though it can be called even earlier, with Messi said to be demanding the incumbent’s resignation.
Bartomeu has already offered to leave his position if that results in the Argentina forward staying, but that is unlikely to placate the star.
During Bartomeu’s six years in charge, there was a social media scandal that saw a digital firm engaged by the club attack the players; the resignation of several club directors; to ballooning debt over reckless spending despite Barca being the world’s richest club, according to the Deloitte Money League.
Blaming Bartomeu for failing “to build a competitive team”, Font told Sky Sports: “I really hope the decision can be changed. It doesn’t seem likely though… if that’s the case, the focus should be on making the transition as smooth as possible.”
