Luuk de Jong unveiled by FC Barcelona after completing loan move from Sevilla

BARCELONA - FC Barcelona officially unveiled Dutch international forward Luuk de Jong on Thursday as the club's sixth and final addition of the summer transfer window.

Arriving on loan from Sevilla, the 31-year-old striker described the move as "the biggest step in my career."

"I have achieved things like winning the Europa League but playing for Barca is a dream come true and I hope to leave very good memories," said De Jong during his presentation at the Camp Nou stadium alongside club president Joan Laporta.

De Jong, whose season-long move to FC Barcelona was sealed on the final day of the transfer window on August 31, will wear number 17 on his shirt and has already trained with his new teammates, who he praised for the welcome they have given him.

One of those players is fellow Dutchman Memphis Depay, who De Jong pointed out he already knows from playing with him at PSV and in the national team.

"We have a very good connection without words, we use the language of football and hopefully we can have the same connection here at Barca," said De Jong about his new teammate.

De Jong, who has recently overcome a knee injury, said he did not know whether he would be selected to play by head coach Ronald Koeman in Barca's next game against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on September 14, but that he felt "fit and ready".

"Like in the national team, he wanted a different kind of striker so he can change tactics, and I think I'm the type of player he wanted and can be part of this, and hopefully it works out well," De Jong said about Koeman, who managed the player when he was the Netherlands coach between 2018 and 2020 before coming to Barca.

De Jong, who previously spent five years at PSV in the Netherlands before moving to Sevilla in 2019, said about the temporary move to Barcelona with an option to purchase that "it's true that the loan is for one year but I will work as hard as I can and we'll see what happens in the future."