Luuk de Jong is the example of perseverance and resilience. As soon as Ronald Koeman signed him on the horn of the closing of the summer market, he has had to support criticism and continuous memes on social networks in which his last name was associated with his slender and inelastic figure. But little by little he has even been getting into the Camp Nou stands on the bench and Xavi Hernández has set an example for him in the dressing room. In fact, it is still curious that Koeman's questionable signing is saving Xavi's purist, who is Dutch as one of his last options. Only the score against in Cornellá allowed the coach to give him entry, desperately, in the 88th minute, once again, he did not disappoint, scoring the equalizer six minutes into the extension. Luuk de Jong has scored in four of the last five games he has played and has given points (one against Espanyol, another against Granada and three against Mallorca). The memes have changed his favor: He is no longer Luuk from 'Tronk' (alluding to poor football quality), now he is Luuk from 'Gol' for his success in front of goal. The Dutchman's goal does not lessen the problems that Barcelona suffers from with their strikers. The proof is that since the new signings arrived in the summer market, the team has scored six goals in two games, but only one of them was scored by a striker, Luuk de Jong. The rest have been scored by defenders (Alba, Araújo and Alves) or midfielders (Gavi and Pedri). Barcelona finished with five strikers against Espanyol (Ferran Torres, Adama, Dembélé, Aubameyang and Luuk de Jong) evidencing the lack of effectiveness in attack “Luuk de Jong is an example and I say it in front of the squad. He is a goalscorer and we have taken him out for this. He has had two and scored one”, explained Xavi after the game, although it is not the first time he has praised the Dutch in public and in private. “He is a brutal professional, there is talk that he can leave, he has fewer minutes, but the way he trains and works is an example,” he commented on the victory against Mallorca (0-1) in early January. We must not forget that, in addition, the forward attack m, scored a goal against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, the momentary draw after Vinicius' goal, something that will always remain in the memory of the culé fans. De Jong himself is satisfied with his performance and believes that he is convincing Xavi of his worth. In a recent interview with AD Sportwereld, he highlighted that the summer market had gone from being a safe start to an important piece for the Barça coach. “In high-level sport everything depends on the moment, you look at it from different perspectives, from euphoria to contempt. Now the reactions towards me are positive and that's very nice”, explained De Jong, who went 12 consecutive games without scoring a goal. His good moment has not gone unnoticed by his great supporter, Ronald Koeman. "He recently sent a message congratulating me, I really appreciate it," says the striker. “I think Xavi is a bit surprised at how I fit into his game. I can also be a '9' for him with whom you can make triangles and thus play under pressure from an opponent. Xavi wants his striker to be a meeting point, to hold balls and combine them with the midfielders. He always tells me to attract defenders to leave spaces that others can take advantage of, ”he details.
