Players hire PR agencies — Barcelona star explains how media controls fans

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has criticised the influence of the sports media in manipulating public perception, drawing directly from his own topsy-turvy experiences in Catalonia. 

Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, the Netherlands international discussed how the media can be weaponised to turn fanbases against players. 

“The press can really influence how people see you; that’s something I especially noticed during that period,” Frenkie said.

“Back then, it was all about my contract, with all sorts of figures about what I was supposedly earning, while that was not true. 

“But then you notice they [the outside world] see you differently from that point; they judge you differently… It starts to get into people’s heads.

“When a player loses possession, but the commentator says nothing, people don’t really notice. But if he says, 'Hmm, that’s already the fourth time he’s lost the ball; he’s not playing well today,’ that sticks with people. 

“Many don’t really watch a game closely; they don’t notice what’s happening. And so it’s very important how people report stories or comment on a match. I think it has more influence than people realise.”

De Jong went further, explaining that certain players have taken control of their fate, hiring PR agencies to manage their image and public perception.

“And besides that, in football there are interests: some journalists have contacts with players, or through others. There are also several players who have PR agencies working for them. And you just notice there’s a difference in how people are judged. Sometimes in football people don’t watch objectively, without even realising it.”

De Jong endured a coordinated media frenzy during the summer of 2022. During that transfer window, strategic leaks to the Catalan press claimed his contract, which included deferred payments from the COVID-19 pandemic, would cost the club a staggering €37.5 million for a single season. 

The 28-year-old midfielder blasted these calculated leaks as institutional attempts to alienate him and force his transfer, noting that constant media repetition fabricates a false reality that the public blindly accepts as absolute truth.