Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has advised people to stay patient amid the worldwide crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic despite admitting that he was missing his day to day activities.
“I miss the day to day routine; going to the Club’s training ground and seeing my team mates. It’s difficult to sit at home and wait for everything to be ok but we have to do it. We have to be patient and we will be back training soon,” the club’s official quoted de Jong as saying.
De Jong, who is currently at his home in the Netherlands, gave an insight on how he is spending his quarantine days. He said that though he doesn’t have an established routine, he is trying to keep himself in the best shape.
“I don’t really have an established routine but I try to have a little order: first we got out for a walk with the dog, then I have breakfast and then I do some running on the treadmill. Then I watch some series on TV and play with Jager, the dog,” the former Ajax footballer said.
“The coaches send me daily programmes and they also ask us how it is has gone. It’s good for us; we stay in shape, not like before, but as best we can,” De Jong added.
Meanwhile, all the professional players at Barcelona, including Lionel Messi, and the non-playing staff underwent a compulsory 70% cut in their wages, informed the Catalan giants last week.
The step was taken to reduce the financial stress the club is enduring due to the lockdown and no sporting activity caused by the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
After Italy, Spain has been the worst-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,36,500 people affected and over 13,300 dead.
Meawhile other than pay cuts, the La Liga, in association with an insurance company, have delivered 30,000 masks to the Catalonia government to help in the fight against the ongoing crisis caused by the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The Catalan club also decided to make available the club facilities, both sporting and annexes, to the Health Department to combat the deadly coronavirus.