Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 2:32 pm• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 14:37

Barcelona’s interest in Luuk de Jong did not start until the very last day of the summer transfer market. The Telegraph writes on Wednesday that the attacker, taken over from Sevilla, had been in the picture with trainer Ronald Koeman for several weeks. De Jong wanted to seize the opportunity to play at Barcelona with both hands and the striker therefore said ‘no’ to his old love PSV.

It was virtually impossible that De Jong would finish the season at Sevilla. The 31-year-old attacker initially appeared to be on his way to Besiktas, but a deal with the Turkish top club did not materialize this summer. A return to PSV was definitively nipped in the bud on Saturday by coach Roger Schmidt. ESPNreporter Hélène Hendriks asked Schmidt whether De Jong is ‘finally’ coming to Eindhoven. “Not this year,” said the German resolutely. “Of course he is a great player with a fantastic history at PSV, but he is not coming to us this season.”

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De Jong continued to dream of the adventure at Barcelona, ​​although there was uncertainty for a long time about the definitive transfer of the transfer. On the last night of the transfer window, Barcelona wanted to continue in the hunt for the experienced Dutchman. In the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, De Jong signed a contract of several dozen pages by secure mail to his new employer. However, the formal confirmation of LaLiga was hours in coming. Finally, the transfer was announced by the Catalans at 3.34 am at night.

The arrival of the Dutchman is Barcelona’s answer to the departure of Antoine Griezmann, who has already closed the door of the Camp Nou behind him after two seasons and returns to Atlético Madrid. In the last hour of the transfer market, there was still speculation about the cancellation of both transfers, in connection with the possible cancellation of the transfer from Saúl Ñíguez to Chelsea, but all the paperwork was handed in in time, so that Barcelona could still come up with the redeeming word. .