This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...

Lionel Messi recently received his sixth Golden Boot award after he had scored more goals than any other player in Europe last season. Following the ceremony, the little Argentine did an interview with Marca and discussed his career, his rivals and some of his teammates as well.

What did he say?

At this point, Messi winning all kinds of awards is no longer big news.

After all, the now 32-year-old superstar has practically won everything there is to win in club football, both on an individual level and as a collective with Barcelona.

But one thing that has changed with Messi over the years is his willingness to communicate with the media. Of course, a big part of that is due to the fact that Messi is now Barcelona's captain following the departure of Andres Iniesta.

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And in his big interview with Marca, the Argentine has singled out one of his teammates and showered him with lots of praise in the process.

Of course, he was talking about the newcomer to the club, Frenkie de Jong.

Here's what he said in full:

"It has been easy for him to adapt to the team because he came from a similar philosophy at Ajax. He grew up with the same idea and the same way of playing, although there he did not have much to play as an anterior [slightly further ahead in midfield than the holding midfielder]. As a pivot [or holding midfielder] he feels more comfortable, but he has adapted well. He likes to have the ball, play short passes, play passes between the lines, and he has a very fast and strong stride. He is a very complete footballer."

The future of Barcelona's midfield

De Jong very much looks like the prototype Blaugrana midfielder, as Messi has already pointed out.

But one other thing that the Argentine mentions that might slip under the radar is actually the 22-year-old's adaptation process.

Messi has acknowledged that De Jong is actually being utilised differently by Ernesto Valverde and that his role has somewhat changed since his days at Ajax.

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Interestingly enough, Valverde's idea of what kind of a midfielder the Dutchman is supposed to be and where on the pitch is he going to play has been widely discussed already and seems to be a point of interest in the footballing world.

As a result, many of the fans were in panic mode about the whole situation early on as they were worried Valverde would ruin the midfielder with these changes.

Still, even if De Jong is going through a transitional period, it's not really showing that much in his performances.

In fact, he's already shown he can drop masterful displays even when played out of his comfort zone.

So far, he's been one of the top performers at Barcelona, ranking fourth according to Whoscored's rating system for the ongoing season.

But Messi's approval is definitely something that will not only help him adapt to his new environment but should also help him develop even further.

At the end of the day, the players that establish the best relationship with Blaugrana's king have the best chance of succeeding at the club.

If he continues performing as he has done, De Jong's future looks incredibly bright.