De Jong on pressure to leave: "It came from everywhere: the press, the president..."

FC Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is in his fourth season with the club and, for the first time, he is not having the desired prominence. De Jong, who could have left in the summer window, has revisited those days with the Dutch media and has assured that he "always wanted to stay". He acknowledged, however, that he received "pressure" to leave.

In comments to Ziggo Sport, De Jong assured that he was always "calm. I decided in May that I wanted to stay." He added that his "opinion has never changed since then. I was always calm. But you know the pressure will arrive... yes, from the newspapers, the president, exactly. From all angles, in fact. But I wanted to stay at Barca so I was never unsettled."  

On the Champions League campaign, with Barça on the verge of elimination in the group stage, De Jong said "of course we are disappointed after the Inter game but we have to pick ourselves up and focus on the Clasico. We have to demonstrate that we're still a good team."

As for being in and out of the Barça team, he finished: "I don't speak a lot with Xavi, we only speak about football. I knew I would play fewer minutes at the start of the season. I want to start again. Against Bayern, I didn't start and I want to be in the side against Real Madrid."