Barcelona Rising Star Reveals How They Should Play With Lionel Messi

A Barcelona youngster revealed the ideal way to play inside the pitch with Lionel Messi.

Throughout his magnificent career with Barcelona, Messi has played with an array of both veterans and youngsters. One of them is 22-year-old Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

In an exclusive interview with FT.com, de Jong spoke about his time with Barcelona. According to the versatile playmaker, he has been having nothing but fun with Barca especially during training sessions.

“At Barcelona the weather is fantastic, the training sessions are super-fun. Every day I appreciate that I’m allowed to be on the field with these players. It’s fantastic,” de Jong said.

More importantly, de Jong revealed how Barcelona youngsters like him view their club captain Messi. According to De Jong, Messi is a lot better than other players and everytime he speaks, everybody in Barcelona listens. He even emphasized the ideal way to play whenever they are in the pitch with "Leo."

“If he (Messi) says something, everyone listens. He gives talks and motivational speeches before the game,” De Jong revealed.

“He’s also really much better than the other players. I think a lot of people underestimate that. On the field, you have to try to always keep an eye on him, so that if you get the ball you know if he’s free.” He says that in 50 years, he’ll still cherish having played with Messi,” de Jong added.

Though De Jong is naturally a fun guy, he has proven that he is no joke inside the pitch. French forward and De Jong’s fellow Barcelona star Antoine Griezmann even named him as the best player he’d ever faced.

“I kept trying to put him under pressure, but it never worked,” Griezmann said of de Jong.

Another witness to de Jong’s talents is his fellow countrymen Eljero Elia. According to Elia, he has never seen anyone who plays like de Jong as he “does things that an outside-left does, but from midfield: dribbling, cutting in front of his opponent at the right moment, keeping the ball at his feet long enough to create situations where you outnumber the opposition.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona is reportedly close to acquiring their next Messi Juan Sebastian Sforza, captain of the U17 national team representing in the FIFA World Cup. Sforza is being viewed as Barcelona’s future Messi because he is believed to be built the same way as the Argentine superstar.

Aside from the fact that Messi and Sforza are both from Argentina, they are also both developed by same club – “Newell’s Old Boys.”