Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has moved to shut down any and all speculation surrounding an alleged strained relationship between he and midfield star Frenkie de Jong.
The name of Dutchman De Jong has of course taken its place front and centre in the media chatter surrounding Barcelona once more over the last couple of months.
After the former Ajax man played full part in the Netherlands’ campaign at the World Cup, his return to base in Catalunya’s capital revealed a serious knee injury. De Jong, in turn, was ruled out for the opening months of the upcoming campaign.
The situation as a whole was at the time reported to have gone down extremely poorly behind the scenes at Barcelona, with De Jong accused of poor decision-making and judgement of his own wellbeing.
Murmurs of a tense rapport between the 29-year-old and his manager, in turn, quickly began to spread, too.
Speaking during an appearance in front of the media on Tuesday, the same subject was therefore put to Hansi Flick himself. Barca’s headmaster, though, made use of the opportunity to assure:
“My relationship with Frenkie is very good. He’s always very committed and a professional player, and we have an excellent relationship. I talk to him all the time, especially about what’s happening around the team and also about the next match. We talk a lot. For me, he’s an important player because he has a lot of potential to offer the team, and that’s what I want to see from him.”
Conor Laird – GSFN