Scout Report: Frenkie de Jong. What can Barca expect from 'Cruyff's successor'?

Welcome to All Football Scouting Report, in here we will take you a closer look at world's promising stars. Frenkie de Jong, the latest stellar talent to make his name at Ajax, is set to join Barcelona next summer. No.6, No.8 and No.10 all rolled into one. But what exactly is it that makes him so special?

Still only 21, De Jong has long been touted as the next big thing – a once-in-a-generation player whose style straddles that of an old-style libero, a deep-lying playmaker and a more conventional central midfielder. 

De Jong is a versatile player who has the technique and composure to play at both centre-back and central midfield, although the latter is certainly his preferred position. Toward the back end of last season, the Dutchman was moved to centre-back and was quite impressive. 

Ajax dominate possession in most of their matches, which essentially transformed De Jong's role at centre-back into a sort of libero role, thriving in that pocket of space between the rest of the backline and the midfield.

This is why Barcelona sign Frenkie de Jong

How do you rate Barca's €86m signing - Frenkie de Jong?

Playing Style

Watching Frenkie De Jong in action is something to behold. The technical ability of the young midfielder allied with his footballing intelligence makes him the stand out player in 9/10 matches he plays.

He dribbles past players with unerring ease and grace as if almost sliding past them and not only that he then uses the ball to deadly effect with a pinpoint and perfectly weighted pass.

The past season in the Eredivise he has accrued a 92% passing average whilst also creating 32 chances and 8 assists from his position in central midfield. 

On numerous occasions, De Jong has created chances by driving from central midfield and beating multiple opponents. 

This is a usual occurrence as the midfielder averages 1.1 successful dribbles a game, leaving opposition managers figuring out how to stifle the player. 

Frenkie de Jong shares similarities with numerous midfielders but has the ability to potentially combine them all replicating heroes of years past especially Franz Beckenbauer. Like Sergio Busquets, teammates know they can pass to him in a variety of positions or to either foot. During Ajax’s Europa league run of 2016-2017, De Jong came on in the final against Man United and looked like the Spanish midfielders replica.

Dropping deep and moving to space smoothly and innately he was a constant outlet for his team and they looked to get the ball to the player as much as they could, moving the ball logically and into the correct areas to try and pull his side back into the contest.

Playing defensive midfield, De Jong is busy and makes tackles and interceptions in equal numbers (averaging 1.2 a game of each across all competitions). These skills alone allow his manager to place and use him in a variety of situations and with the right coaching will be a fulcrum of his side of immeasurable quality.

Weaknesses

At 180 cm tall, De Jong isn’t the tallest, but his strength is improving game-on-game as he fills out and adapts to the rigours of competitive first-team football.

Also, his shooting really needs to improve — not that he’s bad,  but he’s still quite inconsistent, and his shots tend to lack power. For an attack-minded midfielder, it’s important to provide a goalscoring threat as well as an ability to find teammates, but this should improve over time.

What can Barcelona expect from Frenkie de Jong?

With Frenkie de Jong, Barcelona is getting a midfielder who can slot right in to any midfield position, be it attacking- or defensive-minded. Immediately, he can provide cover in any of the midfield positions to provide some much-needed depth. He’s also an option at center back, which could be important given the club is an injury or two away from crisis at the position.

At 21, de Jong’s best years are in front of him. While Barcelona fans will appreciate his passing, vision and playmaking abilities, it could be his strength in one-on-one challenges that ultimately makes him a starter in the squad in the years to come.

De Jong is the 20th player from the Netherlands to sign with Barcelona. He has his work cut out for him to live up to the tradition of great Dutch players before him like Koeman, Johan Cruyff, Patrick Kluivert and Frank de Boer.  

How could Barcelona lineup with new signing Frenkie de Jong in future?

It’s hard to see new signing Kevin-Price Boateng and summer arrival Arturo Vidal getting much game time…

1. TOTAL CONTROL (4-3-3)

Barca’s football in the middle of the park during their recent history has been dominated by controllers.

The Blaugrana love players who can dictate the tempo and this midfield trio would be unstoppable in that respect.

Sergio Busquets, Arthur Melo and De Jong all excel as midfield metronomes and most teams would be passed off the pitch.

The only downside would be the lack of goals from midfield, but Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi could cover for the trio once they receive the ball.

2. SUCCEED BUSQUETS (4-2-3-1)

As many Barca fans will have noticed, Busquets is certainly not at the peak of his powers right now.

For the first time in his Barca career, his passing seems wayward and he looks prone to errors on the ball.

With that in mind, Valverde may opt to rotate the Spaniard with De Jong - the ideal replacement - there to fill in.

Alongside either Arthur or Ivan Rakitic, the Dutchman can certainly deputise in the ‘Busquets role’, with Philippe Coutinho further forward in a central role behind Suarez.

3. VALVERDE’S FAVOURITE (4-4-2)

The Barca boss loved the idea of this formation in his first season, with Messi and Suarez excelling as the strikers.

However, to play such a system, the midfield requires two players with a knack for defending.

Vidal is certainly an option next to Busquets in this formation as well, but De Jong combines his defensive nous with a slick array of passing as well.

On paper, Busquets and De Jong look capable of making a midfield two look like a trio to the naked eye, allowing Valverde to start all his major attacking weapons and hand them freedom.

THE COMPARISONS

"I really think he is a revelation. You might laugh, but he is a better version of Franz Beckenbauer. People must interpret that properly. What I really mean is that he also has speed and passes easily. That's an enormous weapon."  -  Arie Haan, former Ajax and Netherlands midfielder

"He looks like Sergio Busquets in terms of playing style. He's young, but I think he can make a huge contribution now. He is seen as a beastly talent. De Jong's profile is exactly what Barcelona need."  -  Xavi Hernández, Barcelona's all-time leading appearance maker

"He really does have some touches of Johan Cruyff. That acceleration, that hair, that forward thinking. He is not a second Cruyff, but he really does have the essence of Cruyff. He is our big hope in dark days."  -  Valentijn Driessen, De Telegraaf newspaper's chief football correspondent

Career Facts So Far

10 May 2015: Senior debut for Willem II, coming on as a substitute against Den Haag two days before his 18th birthday.

22 August 2015: Joins Ajax aged 18 but is loaned back to Willem II for the first half of the following season.

25 January 2016: First professional goal in Jong Ajax's 2-0 defeat of NAC Breda.

21 September 2016: Ajax debut in cup match against former club Willem II.

6 September 2018: Senior Netherlands debut as half-time substitute in 2-1 friendly win against Peru.

23 January 2019: Signs for Barcelona on a five-year deal.