Comparing Frenkie de Jong’s league stats with Chelsea’s current midfield options

Chelsea are reportedly looking to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona – but would he improve Thomas Tuchel’s squad? We’ve taken a look at the stats to find out.

De Jong shot to prominence at Ajax before completed a £65million move to Barcelona in 2019 and has since made 140 appearances for the club, winning the Copa del Rey in 2021.

He has recently been linked with Manchester United, who have reportedly reached an agreement with Barcelona and are willing to pay €85million.

Reports in Spain suggest that the midfielder doesn’t want to join United and prefers to stay at Barcelona, but he has not closed the doors on a potential switch to Chelsea this summer.

According to The Athletic, Chelsea are currently speaking to Barcelona about the 25-year-old and are optimistic of striking a deal.

“Chelsea have had contacts with [the] player and Barcelona so Chelsea are ready to go big for Frenkie de Jong,” transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano recently said on his YouTube channel.

“But they want to wait for the green light on Frenkie’s side otherwise they will not submit an official proposal.

“This is the feeling around Chelsea because they know they can find an agreement with Barcelona but they want it enter into once they have a green light [from De Jong]. In that case, they would be ready to jump into this Frenkie de Jong story.”

The Blues have already spent over £150million this summer, bringing in Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Gabriel Slonina.

While Chelsea are also trying to sign Wesley Fofana from Leicester City, they could still bring De Jong to Stamford Bridge before the end of the transfer window.

But how does the Netherlands international compare to the options currently at Tuchel’s disposal?

We’ve taken a look at how De Jong's stats in La Liga last season stack up against the corresponding Premier League output of Jorginho, Billy Gilmour, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher.

Note: We haven’t included Ross Barkley due to his lack of Premier League appearances in 2021-22. Goals Mason Mount – 11 Conor Gallagher – 8 Jorginho – 6 Frenkie de Jong – 3 N’Golo Kante – 2 Mateo Kovacic – 2 Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 0 Billy Gilmour – 0

 

Assists

Mason Mount – 10

Mateo Kovacic – 5

N’Golo Kante – 4

Frenkie de Jong – 3

Conor Gallagher – 3

Jorginho – 2

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 2

Billy Gilmour – 1

 

Minutes per goal or assist

Mason Mount – 112.6

Mateo Kovacic – 222.4

Conor Gallagher – 259.1

Jorginho – 284.8

N’Golo Kante – 296.3

Frenkie de Jong – 414.3

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 694

Billy Gilmour – 1858

 

Chances created per 90 minutes

Mason Mount – 2.2

Frenkie de Jong – 1.6

Mateo Kovacic – 1.6

N’Golo Kante – 1.2

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 1.2

Conor Gallagher – 1.2

Billy Gilmour – 1.2

Jorginho – 1.1

 

Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 2.7 (69.2%)

Mateo Kovacic – 2.2 (73.3%)

Frenkie de Jong – 1.8 (81.8%)

N’Golo Kante – 1.8 (72%)

Conor Gallagher – 1.4 (58.3%)

Billy Gilmour – 0.7 (70%)

Mason Mount – 0.7 (43.7%)

Jorginho – 0.6 (74.9%)

 

Passes per 90 minutes (passing accuracy)

Jorginho – 74.4 (89.3%)

Mateo Kovacic – 69.0 (88.8%)

N’Golo Kante – 65.4 (86.7%)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 62.2 (89.7%)

Frenkie de Jong – 59.3 (91.3%)

Billy Gilmour – 55.0 (83.7%)

Mason Mount – 42.4 (85.4%)

Conor Gallagher – 33.1 (81.2%)

 

Successful tackles per 90 minutes (success rate)

N’Golo Kante – 3.0 (78.9%)

Mateo Kovacic – 2.9 (74.3%)

Jorginho – 2.5 (54.3%)

Conor Gallagher – 2.1 (58.3%)

Billy Gilmour – 2.0 (52.6%)

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 1.9 (76%)

Mason Mount – 1.6 (64%)

Frenkie de Jong – 1.3 (76.5%)

 

Interceptions per 90 minutes

N’Golo Kante – 1.6

Jorginho – 1.4

Conor Gallagher – 0.9

Billy Gilmour – 0.8

Frenkie de Jong – 0.7

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 0.7

Mason Mount – 0.5

Mateo Kovacic – 0.4