Local reporter Martí Perarnau has defended struggling midfielder Frenkie de Jong.

Perarnau says too much has been asked of the former Ajax midfielder.

He told Sport: "There has been a lot of confusion here. People believed he was coming from one context and was arriving at another identical one, so there would not be any problem, but it's not been the case.

"With De Jong there has been a lot of confusion about the Ajax game. It was believed that it was the same type of game as Barça and it is not in any way. I would say that, except in the days of Van Gaal, Ajax has hardly practiced positional play. They have played another type of game that has movement as its central axis.

"Let's say that the Dutch school of Ajax has a series of characteristics such as playing with wingers that would be very similar to Barça, but one of its characteristics is that it respects positions very little when that is something that defines the Barça game.

"The game of Ajax is a game of constant movement. The Dutch players who have come to Barça, what they have contributed above all is this dynamic movement. Later, as a coach, Johan Cruyff does provide the foundations of the positional game."