After defeat to Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League group stage game, the series of reports seeping out of Barcelona were very much those of a club in crisis. In spite of that, they are not adrift just yet in La Liga, and are in the Champions League knockout stages. Rumours of an argument between Sporting Director Deco and star midfielder Frenkie de Jong have been denied.
According to RAC1, Deco called de Jong to find out why he wasn’t travelling to Antwerp with the team, not believing that he had a fever. The Dutchman supposedly explained that he was ill, but Deco wanted to know if he had a certificate from the doctor to confirm that.
Sport say that there was a phone call, but that the tone was not one of reproach. They say that Deco did call de Jong to see how he was, but it was purely informative, rather than accusatory. The conversation was friendly, and Deco was calling to find out how he was, instructing de Jong to stay in contact with the doctor for the good of his health.
In a report that reads like an unofficial club statement, the Catalan daily also highlight that from within, they ‘regret the attempts to destabilise the club through incorrect information’. Curiously, the initial information was supposedly from a director at the club.
Given the substantial increase in leaks in recent weeks, as Xavi Hernandez has come under more pressure, it seems more likely that dynamics within the club are shifting – especially given all of the leaks come from Catalan sources.
