Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong says the club continue to miss Lionel Messi following his departure

Frenkie De Jong says that Barcelona are still finding life hard without Lionel Messi. The legendary Argentine left the Nou Camp last summer after 20 years in Catalonia in which he won 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League, and racked up 474 goals in 520 appearances. Ad/> But following Barcelona's well-documented financial problems, they and Messi were unable to find a way to keep him at the club, resulting in a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

FootballMamma mia! Mbappe gives PSG the ‘va va voom’ that Real want — The Warm-Up16/02/2022 AT 08:12 And De Jong — who spent two seasons alongside Messi — says that the Blaugrana still haven't got over his exit. Talking to the Guardian, De Jong said: “First of all I thought it [Messi's departure] wasn’t true. “I was collecting my dad and brother from the airport.

Then I got a message: ‘Messi is leaving Barcelona'. A bit later we got indications it was really happening. Barcelona coach Xavi 'sad and angry' after Napoli draw Misfiring Barcelona look right at home in the Europa League — The Warm-Up Pedri 'really enjoyed' playing with Messi but stresses Barcelona have to move on «At first you just can’t believe it, even though there were rumours throughout the summer.

But I never took it into serious consideration, so when it happened it was a shock. “We still miss him. If someone like him is not at the club any more, then things are suddenly very different.

“If you have such a player in your team, you just try to find him as much as possible on the pitch – so the game is adjusted to him, which is logical. “So when he leaves you have to adjust to it as a player and team. “I think he is the best in pretty much all aspects of football.