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The sporting director spoke about his Dutch compatriot at Barca

Jordi Cruyff, Barcelona’s sporting director, spoke to SPORT at the Barça offices at the Camp Nou. The Blaugrana executive, among many other topics, shut the door to the departure of Frenkie de Jong during the next few transfer windows. In fact, he says that the club considered it last summer, but that it was conditioned by economic reasons, never for sporting reasons. Cruyff thinks that today it is no longer a necessary move and, furthermore, he is delighted with the performance of the Dutchman during the last weeks before the World Cup started, in the Barça shirt.

Is De Jong still for sale?

Today this is not being talked about. In football there are moments and sometimes they are not defined solely by football issues… The fair play situation… Not everyone understands what it is, there are changes every week, but there are situations and decisions that are not just football things. But time has passed and he has an important role.

Did the economic situation force it?

There was the possibility because good players are always wanted by good teams, it works like that. The reality is that he is here and he is playing an important role.

Did you feel alluded to when they complained about the pressure from the club?

It is not a matter of alluded to or not, the players have their feelings, the clubs have theirs and some talk and you come to a common topic. The reality is that Frenkie has stayed, he is a loved player, people expect a lot from him because he is very talented and a slightly different player. These are market moments and it’s no longer with Frenkie, but with everyone, there is a fair play rule and the consequences of not complying with it are enormous and there are calculations that have nothing to do with what happens on the pitch. It is an accumulation of things and you do some calculations. There is no other way. Fair play forces you to make decisions.

The Rosarino is now on the all-time podium for the number of World Cup appearances (23).

Leo Messi has moved onto the podium in World Cup history for games played, second only to Germany’s Lothar Matthäus and Miroslav Klose.

Messi played his 23rd game at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan on Saturday and is on course to move into first place in the all-time table.

The Argentina captain drew level with Italy’s Paolo Maldini and moved to within one of Klose, whom he will catch in the World Cup 2022 quarter-final against the Netherlands, and two behind Matthaus.

Messi made his debut in the Albiceleste’s second World Cup match in Germany, played at the Schalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen, against Serbia and Montenegro, whom they defeated 6-0.

He came on for Maxi Rodríguez in the 75th minute and was in charge of closing out the game for José Pekerman’s side.

He was 19 years old and only started one of the three games he played in, unlike what happened after South Africa 2010 under Diego Maradona.

The Argentine 10 is playing his fifth World Cup finals this year, like Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who follows him among those who are present in the current edition with twenty matches.

The Portuguese will play his 21st against Switzerland on Monday.

In total Messi has won 15 of the games he has played, drawn three and lost the other five, most recently the opener against Saudi Arabia.

He has scored nine and is now just one behind Gabriel Batistuta.

After Uruguay’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup, the defender returns to the Catalan capital.

Ronald Araujo returns to Barcelona and could resume training next Monday

After Uruguay’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup, the defender returns to the Catalan capital.

Uruguayan centre-back Ronald Araujo returned to Barcelona from Qatar on Saturday and is likely to join Xavi Hernandez’s team training next Monday.

All Barcelona players who are not with the various national teams for the World Cup have been called to return to training having enjoyed a few weeks of rest.

Araujo was part of the Uruguayan World Cup 2022 retinue but did not feature at all, owing to the injury sustained at the end of September.

He underwent surgery by a Finnish specialist for an avulsion of the adductor longus of the right leg. The estimated recovery period was about three months.

At the request of the Uruguayan coach, Diego Alonso, the player travelled along with the World Cup 2022 squad, but the Spanish club imposed the condition that no risks must be taken as he was in the middle of his recovery process. They even sent two physiotherapists to supervise him.

If the forecasts were right, Araujo will continue with his recovery and is not expected to be fully fit until the end of the year.

Only Christensen and Ter Stegen have been knocked out so far

Fourteen of the 17 FC Barcelona players participating in the World Cup in Qatar have already qualified for the round of 16, a spectacular number.

Despite the defeat against Japan on Thursday, the eight Spaniards (Pedri, Gavi, Eric Garcia, Busquets, Alba, Balde, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres) joined those who were already qualified: Koundé, Dembélé, Raphinha, De Jong , Memphis and Lewandowski.

Spain suffered more than expected. They took the lead in the game but in just two second half minutes the Japanese turned the game around to beat Spain 2-1. It was one of the worst performances since Luis Enrique took over.

La Roja needed the help of Germany, who beat Costa Rica, to be able to reach the round of 16 as runners up in the group. On Tuesday, they will face Morocco in the next round.

The two Frenchmen who play for Barça did not need to wait for the last group game to qualify. They did so after winning their first two matches against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1). Koundé and Dembélé were the first Barça players through.

Then Brazil’s Raphinha followed, thanks also to two victories against Serbia (2-0) and Switzerland (1-0). Brazil still have one game to play, on Friday.

Dutchmen Frenkie De Jong and Memphis Depay did need the third game to get through to the round of 16. The Netherlands beat Senegal (0-2) in the first game but drew against Ecuador (1-1) and had to wait to beat the host, Qatar (2-0), to be in the next phase.

Lewandowski, with Poland, also qualified despite the defeat to Argentina because Mexico lacked just one goal in their 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. A third effort would have taken them through on goal difference.

One more could be added to that 14. Despite the fact that he will not play, Ronald Araujo’s Uruguay can reach the round of 16 with a win against Ghana Friday.

So far, the Barcelona players who have already said goodbye to the World Cup are Denmark’s Christensen and Germany’s Ter Stegen.

The former Culer recommended Tchoumeni’s signing to Barça management

Cesc Fábregas opened up in an interview with Fichajes.com about the signing of Tchouameni.

The Catalan giants had considered signing the Frenchman before Madrid secured his services. The former Barça player praised Aurélien and his quality as a player and recommended they sign him, but financial problems prevented them from doing so.

“I spoke to Barça because they were looking for a replacement for Busquets, but they were short of money. I told them about Aurélien. They wanted to prepare for the succession of Sergio Busquets and to me, he was the perfect player”.

However, the critical financial situation of the club prevented him from joining. The offer could not exceed 40 million.

So finally the player ended up wearing white, in an operation that would exceed 100 million euros including add-ons. He is now one of the most promising players in Deschamps’ national team.
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Cesc also added that “Aurélien has no limits, I quickly realised he was not a player like the others. The first time I saw him was against Bordeaux with Monaco. I was on the bench and I was impressed with his performance. They beat us and I remember asking one of our assistants: ‘but who is this midfielder?'”

In addition, he also confessed that he has a close relationship with the Real Madrid player “we exchanged a lot of opinions, and he asked me for a lot of advice about his career”.

The forward came off the bench for his first Spain appearance at the tournament

“He was the last player on the list,” Luis Enrique remarked bluntly when asked what role he reserved for Ansu Fati in the World Cup. The Barcelona forward, who had not even warmed up in the first two games against Costa Rica and Germany, seemed destined to play a supporting role at the World Cup.

Luis Enrique’s words in the run-up to the match against Japan fueled doubts about Ansu, who had already been left out of the last squad before the tournament in September/October, because the coach had not seen him playing at the level he demands.
Backup to necessary

However, as soon as things became complicated for Spain in Doha, with Japan ahead on the scoreboard and Costa Rica and Germany playing a crazy game at the same time, Luis Enrique turned to Ansu.

He came onto the pitch in the 68th minute, replacing Gavi, to intensify Spain’s attack from the left wing. He did not score, but he linked well with his teammates, sought the weaknesses of the disciplined Japanese defence and was very active.

Ansu ended up sharing the front line with Ferran Torres and Marco Asensio, with Dani Olmo just behind them, in the interior position: four attackers to try to knock down the Japanese wall and score an equalising goal, which did not arrive.

In the end, only the result of the match between Costa Rica and Germany saved Spain, who reached the last 16 as group runners-up on goal difference.
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A smile amid the tension

The Barça forward was the exception in the mixed zone of the Khalifa stadium after the game. While he did not have to speak to the press — only three players are obliged to do so — he left the stadium with a relaxed and smiling gesture, in contrast to the seriousness that was reflected in the faces of his teammates.

The tension of having been eliminated for several minutes briefly in the second half only faded with the passing of the hours, but for Ansu, it was not a sad day: he played his first minutes at a World Cup, accompanied by his entire family in the stands (of the 26 cited by Luis Enrique, he is the one who has taken the most relatives to Qatar) and showed that he can be important and necessary for the national team.

The Spain striker opened the scoring in the surprise 2-1 loss to Japan

Álvaro Morata opened the scoring and everything seemed on track for Spain to progress to the last 16 without problems against Japan on Thursday.

But the World Cup is unpredictable and Spain ended up suffering and, for a few minutes in the second half, were eliminated from the competition.

In the end, despite losing 2-1 to Japan, they progressed thanks to Germany’s comeback win over Costa Rica.

“It’s football, it was incredible, to be honest,” Morata said. “The important thing is that we are in the next round, we have to think about that and also analyse the game.

He added: “In almost all the World Cups that I remember watching, all teams have gone through difficult spells. We have to get through them and keep faith in ourselves.

“We are in the round of 16, that is the important thing. Other teams would sign for that. From tomorrow, we will focus on the next round and making that this does not happen again because (if it does) you are going home.”

Morata added: “Everything happens very quickly on the pitch, it was five minutes in which they scored two goals against us. We’ll watch it back on video and draw our conclusions. Now it’s difficult.”

On the three minutes in which Spain were heading out, when Costa Rica were leading Germany, he commented that “football is like that, you don’t have to think about it anymore, the important thing is that we are in the round of 16. Morocco are a very tough rival, but we are going to give it our all.”

Inter are keen but Kessie wants a full season to prove himself at Camp Nou

Franck Kessie’s future remains unknown. The midfielder arrived at Barcelona last summer on a free transfer, but he has not managed to break into the side. Kessie remains convinced he can succeed at Barça and gives himself a margin until June to convince Xavi.

Kessie knew that it would not be easy to be a starter at Barça and considers these first months have been an adaption period. In that sense, he believes that it is too early to draw conclusions and appreciates that, despite not playing as much as he would like, he is still participating in most games.

However, several clubs in Serie A are following the former Milan man’s situation, including Inter. Calciomercato have confirmed SPORT’s report about Inter’s interest. Kessie still has a very good market in Italy, where he was one of the most prominent players in Milan’s recent successes.

Kessie is aware of this interest but doesn’t want to rush anything and isn’t in favor of leaving in January.

Therefore, his first option is to stay put, but he is also aware that there may be movements in the window that further damage his chances.

He knows Barça are still interested in Bernardo Silva, the Manchester City midfielder. For now, Kessie is preparing to start training on December 5, the date set by Xavi for the return of the players who are not participating in the World Cup.

The Barcelona defender’s comments were headlines last season but not Vini’s this year

Last season, during FC Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Movistar cameras captured a brief discussion between Eric Garcia and Vinicius in which the Barça defender, after a good defensive action against the Brazilian, said “next year, Ballon d’Or”.

Garcia has now been asked about the incident in an interview on ‘Radio MARCA’ and revealed his surprise at the fact that the conversation they had in this season’s Clasico has not come to the fore.

“Yes, I said it to him,” Garcia said. “It was just in the heat of the moment of the game. What made me angry was that, in the last game at the Bernabeu, he also said something to me, the cameras filmed it and he has not come out.

“I’m not going to say what he said, he’s a great player and I don’t have any problems with him, but I wonder why that didn’t come out and what I said did.”

Although he has not yet been able to debut at the World Cup in Qatar, the Barça centre-back is “relaxed because he believes that, at the level that he is training “physically” and “mentally”, “it will come.”

The Ivory Coast international only joined Barça from Milan last summer

Franck Kessie remains highly rated in Italy and there are several clubs interested in signing him if he decides to leave Barcelona.

‘Calciomercato.com’ assures that Inter Milan will move for him in the January window and are trying to convince the player to return to Serie A with the promise of regular football.

Kessie’s camp always deny a departure from Barça is possible and insist that he will end the season in Spain, but in Italy they report there may be enough room to negotiate.

Kessie joined Barça as a free agent from Milan, where he was an undisputed starter and one of the great bastions of the team.

However, in the first few months of the season, the midfielder has not managed to gain space as a starter as there is a lot of competition and it is likely that his luck will change between now and the end of the season.

Despite everything, though, Kessie wants to keep trying until June and, then, he will make a decision about his sporting future.

Inter have been interested in Kessie for years. They already liked him when he was at Atalanta, but Milan beat them to his signing.

Last summer, they also tested the player with a good proposal, superior to the one Milan made to renew him, but he wanted to sign for Barça to try a new experience in the Spanish league.

Kessié continues to believe in his chances, but Inter will insist. The Italian club would prioritise an assignment with a mandatory purchase option in the summer since they cannot invest now. In June it would be possible.