Cillessen: 'I know all about the FC Barcelona style'

FC Barcelona’s new Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has described his first impressions after arriving at the club on a five-year contract. And as anyone would after joining the greatest football team in world, he is loving every minute of the experience. “Barça is one big family” he says. “Both the stadium and the supporters are spectacular.”

The Holland international also compared Barça to his previous team, Ajax Amsterdam. “They both play a similar style of football so it won’t be so difficult for me to adapt” he says. “I know this way of playing. I know what Barça expect from a goalkeeper and I’ll try to do it well … I don’t think I am your typical goalkeeper, I can play with my feet, and that’s important at Barça”.

On the transfer deal, Cillessen admits that “at first it felt strange that the best team in the world wanted to sign me. I thought it was a joke. The last few days have been a bit crazy. I was playing for Ajax and just a few hours later I was on a plane to Barcelona. I hardly slept, but I’m very happy to be here and I hope I can make the people proud. I want to be another Dutchman that made history at Barça”.

He also spoke about his origins, and how he played as a forward for three years before deciding to become a goalkeeper. Asked what his fondest memories of Ajax were, he singled out “the Eredivisie that we won in the 2013/14 season, when I played in a lot of games so it felt more mine than the other ones” and “the win in the Champions League against Barça at the Amsterdam Arena”.