Lionel Messi 'Will Fall in Love' with Frenkie de Jong, Says Ronald de Boer

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will "fall in love" with the club's latest signing Frenkie de Jong, according to Ronald de Boer.

The former Barcelona and Ajax man now works with the Dutch side in their youth academy and spoke about the highly-rated 21-year-old in an interview with Cadena SER (h/t Sport's Nil Congost).

"De Jong has Ajax DNA which is nearly the same as Barcelona DNA, he is intelligent, he always has good ideas, he never plays without thinking. Messi will fall in love with De Jong.

"He's a different player and is not afraid of dribbling and waiting for the opportune moment to give the ball. He will have Busquets as a professor to learn from in the first year, and after that, Busi can hand the role over to De Jong. He can also play in the Xavi and Iniesta position, but the No. 6 is his best role." 

Barcelona announced on Wednesday that De Jong will move to the Camp Nou on a five-year deal at the end of the season:

The midfielder will cost the Catalan giants an initial €75 million (£65 million) plus €11 million (£9.5 million) in variables, per BBC Sport.

De Jong is regarded as one of Europe's most exciting young midfielders. He had also attracted interest from Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain and has explained why he turned them down:

They youngster looks a good fit for Barcelona. He loves to dribble with the ball, has an excellent range of passing and can play in a variety of midfield roles.

StatsBomb's Ted Knutson highlighted his qualities:

De Jong has previously spoken about his desire to play in the same team as Messi in an interview with Ajax's television channel (h/t Sport).

"If you end up at a superior club, you will play with world-class players all over the pitch," he said. "But for me, honestly, I would like to play with Messi one day."

De Jong will get to fulfil his ambition of playing with Messi next season for Barcelona, and big things will be expected of the Dutch star after his big-money move.