Frenkie De Jong BarcelonaFCBARCELONA

De Jong is the perfect player for Barcelona - Kluivert

Patrick Kluivert believes Frenkie de Jong is the 'perfect player' for Barcelona's style after the young Ajax midfielder agreed his move to Camp Nou.

De Jong had his fair share of suitors with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain among the clubs chasing him before he agreed to join Barcelona for an initial fee of €75 million (£65m/$85m).

Kluivert has been watching De Jong from a very young age after he came through the ranks at Ajax alongside the former Barcelona striker's son Justin, who left the Dutch giants to join Roma in the summer of 2018.

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The Netherlands legend says that the skills De Jong possesses make him a fantastic midfielder going forward.

"Well, he offers a lot of joy for the people, he’s a good player, he’s 21 years old now and I’ve known him for a long time because he played with Justin, my son, in the youth at Ajax. Even then you could already see his strengths, his way of handling the ball," Kluivert said.

Kluivert also touched upon De Jong's reading of the game and his high footballing IQ showing maturity beyond his years, something which Barcelona need in their midfield after club legend Andres Iniesta departed last summer.

"When he receives the ball, he already knows where to play it, he always looks for vertical passes towards other central midfielders or strikers," added Kluivert.

"When he’s got the ball at his feet and he has some space he is very quick with vertical runs."

Kluivert himself made over 250 appearances for Barcelona as well as 100 for Ajax at the beginning of his career.

Pep Guardiola's legacy is still felt at Barcelona and, having played alongside the now Manchester City manager at Camp Nou, Kluivert believes De Jong is the perfect player to fit in with the style at the Liga leaders.

He said: "I think he is a great signing for Barcelona and he will let the Barcelona fans enjoy the way Barcelona loves to play and he is the perfect player for them."

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