Luuk De Jong: ‘I fit the team’

Barcelona, Sep 9 (EFE).- Barcelona’s new striker, Luuk de Jong, said Thursday at his presentation that he will bring new options to the team despite being used mostly as a substitute at Sevilla.

De Jong signed on loan in the final moments of the summer transfer window to replace the departed world cup winner Antoine Griezmann.

“It’s amazing to be here. I think the message from the coach (Ronald Koeman) was clear: he wanted a different striker up front and that’s why he thought about me. He had been thinking about me for a long time and I think I fit the team. I have shown my quality at the highest level and I hope I can show it here,” the Dutchman said.

De Jong, on loan for this season with an option to buy, did not close the door to staying at Barça in the future, although he said that his current priority is to “work as hard as I can”, after fulfilling a childhood dream.

“It’s the biggest step in my career, to play for the biggest club in the world. I’ve won titles in my career, but this is a dream come true,” the 31-year-old striker said.

The powerful striker joins a growing list of Dutch players at the club, where, in addition to coach Koeman, there are also Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay, with whom he has “a great relationship”.

“I already know Memphis from the national team and we played together at PSV. We have a very good connection, we could understand each other without words. Hopefully we can have the same connection here at Barca,” he underlined.

Similarly, De Jong spoke about what Koeman, his main supporter and who contacted him during the month of August, expects from him on the pitch.

“The manager wanted a different kind of striker than he had in the team, to change tactics a bit. And I think I can be part of this,” he said.

Signed at the last minute of the summer market and yet to make his debut, De Jong is available for the team’s next match, next Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Bayern Munich.