"If Messi gives you advice, you have to listen to it; he's the best"

Barcelona's Dutch player Frenkie De Jong said he is learning a lot at the club, especially from Leo Messi, from whom he said "if he gives you advice, you have to listen to it".

In an interview granted to 'BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily Podcast, the midfielder reviewed his team's situation before the resumption of La Liga and his sensations in the first year as a Barcelona player.

"If he (Messi) is talking to you and gives you some advice you have to listen to him because he is, by far, the best player in the world. If he gives you advice, you listen to him. Sometimes he tells you that you have to go deeper or stand on the outside. They are little things, but they make a difference," he revealed.

"At Ajax and in the Netherlands I had a different role because we played with a double six (with double pivot)," he said.

In this sense, he admitted that the adaptation has been positive, although he said that there is still room for improvement: "I play better when I'm not the most defensive midfielder, but I'm not the most offensive either."

On the return of the LaLiga, he assured that the training has been intense, claiming that "perhaps" the team is "better" than before the halt.

"Training is intense and maybe we are better than when we stopped. I feel that there is something special to come," said the international from the Netherlands.

At one point in the conversation, the former Ajax player elaborated on his move to Barcelona: "At first I didn't feel that Barcelona really wanted me, but they told me I had a good chance to start and it was very easy for me."

He said that he does not regret having signed for the Catalan club and highlighted the quality of life he has in Barcelona. "Sometimes when you drive to training you see the weather and it's those moments when you think: 'It's what I've always wanted since I was a kid, it's a dream'," he added.

In the interview, De Jong recalled the photograph he published a few days ago in his Instagram account in solidarity with the death of African-American George Floyd in the United States.

It showed a picture of him celebrating a goal with teammate Georginio Wijnaldum in a match against Estonia in 2019.

"It's very sad that things like this keep happening," he said, referring to Floyd's death as a victim of police violence, and stressed that sport can play "an important role" in the fight against racism