De Jong launches a scathing attack: they are tarnishing my image with these rumours
The Dutch star names the journalist
Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong has hit out at the rumours swirling around him, giving vent to his anger at what he calls false news damaging his image.
He spoke out in an interview with the Catalan club's official media, clarifying his recovery from injury and answering the reports published about him in recent weeks.
"I am fine, but I feel there is a lot of noise around me, a lot of false news and similar things, and this bothers me," De Jong said, adding that his aim was "to clarify certain matters".
Seven years at the Camp Nou have not dulled his ambition. "I have been at the club for seven years, and playing for Barcelona was always my dream, and I still have dreams to achieve here, and we still have big goals," the Dutchman said.
His injury has left him deeply frustrated. "I am in great pain over all of this, it bothers me a lot and frustrates me greatly, because what I love most is playing football, specifically with Barcelona and the national team, and so when I am injured, it really bothers me," he said.
The problem, he revealed, stemmed from a training accident. "Someone fell on me and I suffered a small problem in the knee. We did the tests and they showed there was a small problem, and everyone knew that. They told me I could carry on playing, and that I would feel some discomfort and a little pain, but I could continue playing and the condition would not worsen." He had been assured the injury would not get any worse.
Why did he keep playing? "I carried on playing because I love football, the World Cup is a dream, and I will always do everything I can to take part, and I have done that a lot with Barcelona, and that is what I did." After the World Cup, he stayed in contact with the club and returned for fresh tests. "We did a test and it showed that the injury had become more serious than it was when I did the tests in the United States, and that was very difficult because I did not expect it, and no one expected it," he said.
He is now working through a rehabilitation programme with physiotherapists, following a plan agreed with the club. "We put in place a plan that everyone knows about and everyone agrees on," he said, before turning again to the coverage of his injury. "I see that there are a lot of things being said that are not true."
Those reports have got to him. "Yes, this affects me, I get angry and annoyed," he admitted, drawing a line between footballing opinion and what he sees as lies. "People have the right to express their opinions, and if they say: Frenkie is a bad player, or Frenkie does not have the level to play for Barcelona, I may agree or disagree with them, and I think they are wrong, but that is another matter."
"But now they are publishing many things that are not true, and I notice that this harms my image and affects the way some people think about me," he warned.
One claim in particular fired him up, and he aimed it straight at journalist Gerard Romero. "He said I refused to play against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last year, and this is completely untrue, it is a lie, and something that is absolutely not true."
The account left him baffled. "My dream is to play for Barcelona, especially the big matches in the Champions League, and of course I want to play, and everyone wants to play these matches, and I do not understand how it can be said that I refused to play," he said.
Talk of a rift with Hansi Flick? He denied it flatly. "He said my relationship with the coach is very bad, and this is completely untrue, my relationship with the coach is very good and I speak to him a lot, and you can ask the coach about all of this."
Nor would he accept that his ties with the board had soured. "They said my relationship with the club is bad, and this is not true either, because I speak a lot with the officials at the club and with the administrators and others, and I can say that my relationship with the club is very excellent," he said.
Reports of a club sanction drew a final, pointed response. "This is also what Gerard Romero said, and I want to mention that because I believe he has reported more lies in the past, but I will not allow that to pass any more, he must understand that if he publishes things that are not true, I will come out and expose them myself."
