Prior to joining Sevilla in 2019, Luuk de Jong played five years in the Dutch League with PSV Eindhoven, scoring an impressive 74 goals.
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Barcelona have completed the signing of striker Luuk de Jong from Sevilla on a season-long loan deal. The 31-year-old was signed by the Spanish giants on the deadline day of the summer transfer window that also saw the dramatic move of Antonie Griezmann from Camp Nou to Atletico Madrid. Barca will not pay a loan fee, instead, they will pay De Jong’s wages and there is a purchase option on the deal. It was a disappointing deadline day for Barca as they tried to buy Edinson Cavani and Joao Felix but had to settle for Sevilla’s third choice centre-forward.
Prior to joining Sevilla in 2019, De Jong played five years in the Dutch League with PSV Eindhoven, scoring an impressive 74 goals. But he couldn’t replicate that form with Sevilla, as he could manage only 19 goals in 93 appearances over two seasons, which saw him pushed to the bench.
De Jong also played for De Graafschap, Fc Twente, Borussia Monchengladbach and Newcastle United over the course of his career.
Meanwhile, Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman was in favour of signing the Dutchman as he had coached the striker during his stint with the Netherlands national team. The 31-year-old has made 38 appearances for the Dutch national side since making his debut in 2011 and made two appearances for his country at Euro 2020 this summer.
De Jong has been brought in as a replacement for Griezmann to provide the much-needed cover in the centre-forward position. Martin Braithwaite and Memphis Depay have started each of the club’s three league matches so far alongside Griezmann. With Sergio Aguero nursing a calf injury, De Jong might straight away need to get going at Camp Nou.
Barcelona are going through one of the worst phases in their history. The club’s gross depth is at around 1.35 billion euros and therefore in an attempt to cut the wage bill they had to let go a number of players and limit their buying options this summer. Even after the departure of club legend Lionel Messi to PSG the club’s salaries accounted for 95% of the wage bill.
Blaugrana sanctioned the departure of Emerson Royal to Tottenham, Rey Manaj to Spezia and Illaix Moriba to RB Leipzig as the club’s priority was to cut the wage bill.
Koeman has a tough task in hand to carry the team forward during the crisis period. Despite all the setbacks and financial problems the Dutchman still has a decent team at his disposal consisting of the likes of- Aguero, Eric Garcia, Depay, Jordi Alba, Pedri, Frankie De Jong, Sergio Busquets. However, Koeman would be tested to the limit during the 2021-22 season as the squad depth isn’t great.
The start has been good for the Catalan club as they have accumulated seven points from first three La Liga games and are level on points with table toppers Real Madrid. They will next face the mighty Bayern Munich in the Champions League group stage fixture after the international break.
