Abidal reveals the secret behind persuading ‘Frenkie’ to join Barca

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Former Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal has revealed the secret behind convincing Frenkie de Jong to reject a move to Paris Saint-Germain in order to join the Catalan giants. Abidal

was sporting director at Barcelona between June 2018 and August 2020.

The former France international was instrumental in bringing a number of players to the club, working alongside much-controversial president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

One of the players who signed for Barcelona during Abidal’s time was Frenkie de Jong, who joined the club for around €70 million from Ajax in the summer of 2019.

When all was said and done, however, Barcelona beat out the competition, to strike a deal with their counterparts at the aforementioned Ajax.

And, as alluded to above, playing a leading role in as much was none other than one-time Blaugrana stopper Eric Abidal.

Speaking in an interview with Free Foot on Wednesday, Abidal opened up on a conversation between he and De Jong back in 2019, during which he feels as though he convinced the Dutch international to turn down PSG, in favour of the Camp Nou:

Abidal has revealed the story behind the moment he convinced Frenkie to sign for Barcelona, ​​revealing what the Dutchman told him, as reported by ยูฟ่าเบท SPORT.

“He told me: ‘Listen, I have never spoken to the Barca coach’. That’s why I decided to go to PSG, because I had spoken to Tuchel. ‘”

The former sporting director went on to explain what he told the €70m midfielder to change his mind.

“And I told him: ‘At Barca, it is the organization that signs you, not the coach. And secondly, with the total transfer fee you are a real player, without any arguments. ‘”