Frenkie de Jong‘s agent has not reacted well to reports that the player feigned illness to miss out on Barcelona‘s trip to Royal Antwerp in midweek, slamming claims as ‘fake news’ in a furious rant.
The Blaugrana were shocked by the Belgian side – competing in the Champions League for the first time in their history – after falling to a 3-2 defeat in a dramatic encounter on Wednesday night.
The hosts took the lead in under two minutes through Arthur Vermeeren, before the Catalan side equalised before the break, only for former Tottenham star Vincent Jansson to make it 2-1 to Antwerp before an electric finish.
De Jong was absent for the trip that saw Xavi blood a number of younger stars in a largely inexperienced travelling squad, yet reports as to the veracity of his excuse of illness have not gone down well with his representatives, it would seem.
Catalan outlet RAC1 had suggested that the player rang Deco to inform the Barca chief of his status, but the report claims that the Portugal legend was not entirely convinced.
‘Total fake news,’ his agent Ali Dursun told Dutch outlet De Telegraaf about the claims. ‘It is the biggest nonsense that has been released around Frenkie in a long time.
‘The player is just sick. He has symptoms of fever and has been unable to travel and play. This boy is a professional through and through. Just a model professional.
‘Just don’t touch Frenkie’s reputation, because he always delivers. There was no shouting over the phone as claimed, no question marks.
‘Things are being created now in a false way. The relationship with Deco is simply good and stable.’
De Jong’s absence was perhaps more keenly felt for the weak showing of ex-Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu in the middle of the midfield three.
While Barca had already sealed top spot in the group, there was the small matter of the prize money on offer per win (£2.35million) and pride on the line.
The initial reports from RAC1 claimed that De Jong, Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Ronald Araujo had all been omitted from the squad list, only for president Joan Laporta to intervene, the latter three all added to the team.