Frenkie de Jong showed off his athleticism as he took on Barcelona teammate Ousmane Dembele in a sprint – surprising everyone with the outcome.
Despite all the outside noise regarding a move away from Camp Nou, De Jong has been heavily involved in pre-season. The Dutchman was in Xavi’s squad for the club’s tour of the USA, playing in every single match.
In addition, he played the second half of the Trofeo Joan Gamper match against Pumas at Camp Nou. De Jong even got on the scoresheet as Barca ran out 6-0 winners.
However, the midfielder’s summer has been far from ideal in preparing for the new season. Issues with wages and interest from clubs abroad mean that De Jong has been the subject of endless speculation.
As it stands, Chelsea appear to have leapt long-time admirers Man United in the queue for Frenkie de Jong. The Blues are reportedly ready to match United’s offer of £72 million to sign the midfielder. Crucially, though, they are more confident of agreeing to personal terms than the Red Devils, as Chelsea are in the Champions League.
But even then, reports suggest that De Jong is not ready to leave Spain yet. The Express states that the Dutchman’s agents have told Barca about De Jong’s desire to stay with the Catalan giants.
This undoubtedly puts a spanner in Barcelona’s plans, as they need De Jong to leave to have enough salary space to register their new signings.
In contrast to his precarious off-pitch situation, Frenkie de Jong looks fit and firing on a football field – if a video on social media is anything to go by.
Frenkie de Jong wins sprint vs Ousmane Dembele
Ahead of their 6-0 thrashing of Pumas, the Barca squad had an intense warm-up to get players up to speed. During the pre-game drills, a group of players had a sprint race from the dead ball line to the halfway line.
A video from ESPN FC (shared by Footballogue) captured this rare race between professional footballers. Alongside each other were Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong. Now, the Frenchman has a reputation as a pacey winger; per Besoccer, Dembele once clocked a rapid 34 km/h in a Champions League game.
As a result, many would dismiss Frenkie de Jong in a sprint against the winger – yet the Dutchman more than held his own.
In the clip, De Jong has a much cleaner getaway than Dembele, who is immediately playing catch up. The Frenchman then manages to get level with De Jong’s shoulder before the Dutchman pulls away in the final few metres.
Yes, despite the apparent speed differences, Frenkie de Jong beat Ousmane Dembele in a sprint race. Fair play to him! This high, underrated level of athleticism is definitely one of the reasons why he is on Chelsea and United’s radar.
Featured image credit: Twitter/Footballogue
