Barcelona seem to do better without their €70m-rated star – report | OneFootball

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FC Barcelona continues to possess some of the world’s finest players, and that remains undoubted. La Blaugrana have a history of relying on top players to keep their prestige alive, and that trend continues today as well. However, even for Barcelona, appointing the best of players has downsides too.

One such downside is the exorbitant levels of financial sacrifice required to attain and then retain them. Such is, reportedly, the case of the contract that Frenkie De Jong is contractually obliged to with Barcelona. Speculation suggests that he remains the club’s highest earner as well.

Therefore, AS believes it to be justified that De Jong’s impact on the team be studied. The exact success that Barcelona manages to achieve with and without De Jong, to be precise, is the metric being used to assess the Dutchman’s influence on this Barcelona team.

With De Jong, the Blaugranes surprisingly have a lower win-rate than they do without him. Out of the 27 games that Barcelona have played with the Dutchman, only 17 have ended in victory. This results in a win percentage of 62.9% in total. On the other hand, the percentage is a marginally better 66.6% when Barcelona has played their 15 games without him, 10 of which were wins.

Thus, the question of whether or not De Jong is even necessary raises itself. The last two major victories, against Napoli in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg and against Atletico Madrid in La Liga, came without the Dutchman’s influence for Barcelona.

Moreover, both victories were statement ones, due to the level of the opponents as well as Barça’s own dominance. Many voices have thus begun to mutter and murmur with unease about their captain in the midfield. They believe that the Dutchman does not provide Barcelona adequately for what he charges in return.

Thus, in the coming weeks, De Jong’s future at Barcelona may be completely figured out. La Blaugrana will not be completely opposed to a substantial offer if it does end up arriving for the 26-year-old. His quality remains undoubted, and he retains many suitors, but his influence is now being questioned.