The former arrived from Atletico Madrid this week after a long drawn out transfer saga for the past few months, whereas, a £66m deal was wrapped up for De Jong back in January.
Both players cost Barcelona a significant amount and are expected to feature heavily for the side from the upcoming campaign. Speaking about the defensive midfielder, Valverde said, “Last season he played at a great level like Ajax did. He is a footballer who will give freshness to the midfield and he is a project for the future because he is a quality footballer who has many years of football ahead and who has our style of play.”
The Blaugrana dished out over £100m to get Griezmann from their La Liga rivals. While commenting on the 28-year-old, Valverde said, “He is a footballer with experience in LaLiga Santander and in that aspect, he is more settled than De Jong.
“He is fast, plays well into space and he is a good finisher. We trust him a lot, we know what this type of player is worth and we expect immediate performance.”
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