After Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 in pre-season, Xavi told reporters that “Frenkie de Jong can give us a lot also as a centre-back.”
The centre-back position is not entirely new for Frenkie. He played in that position eight times under Ronald Koeman in the 2020/21 season.
However, under Xavi, De Jong has never played at centre-back. That’s likely because the Dutchman always seems to struggle in that position.
The 25-year-old is best suited for a central midfield role where he can dictate the play with his vision and passing technique.
It is likely that Xavi now prefers new signing Franck Kessie to De Jong in that central midfield position at Barcelona.