Former Barcelona star argues midfield heavyweight is overpaid – ‘Not so decisive…’ | OneFootball

Frenkie de Jong was at the centre of Oscar Garcia’s analysis on Que t’hi Jugues, where the former player and youth coach of Barcelona made an interesting assessment of the Dutchman.

Garcia, who played for Barcelona’s first team between 1994 and 1999, argued that de Jong is perhaps better than what people think but is worse than what he gets paid for.

The Spaniard essentially means that while fans may underestimate de Jong, the club have grossly overestimated the Dutchman, at least in terms of salary.

What Oscar Garcia said about de Jong

“I think he’s better than you say and worse than what he is paid. He’s a good player, but he’s not the typical player we’ve always had in that position in front of the defence. It’s better than you say and worse than what they pay,” he said (h/t SPORT).

Garcia’s observation does make sense, to an extent, given that de Jong is indeed one of the highest-paid players in the team.

This was, in fact, one of the reasons why Joan Laporta was keen on getting rid of him when the Dutchman wasn’t performing very well.

Frenkie de Jong has been consistent for Barcelona under Flick. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Continuing his analysis, Garcia argued that De Jong is not among the best players to have played for Barcelona in his position.

“He is not so decisive as to be one of the highest paid. Normally, the best paid are the ones who decide matches,” he said.

“Yes, he is a very good player, but I don’t think he will make you decide a game,” he added.

However, it must be noted that de Jong has been one of Barcelona’s most consistent performers under Hansi Flick.

This is why Barcelona are keen on extending the contract of the Dutchman, which expires at the end of the season.

The negotiations between the two parties are currently ongoing and it will be interesting to see whether or not the new deal involves a potential paycut for the former Ajax starlet.