Deco has reportedly accused Frankie de Jong of “faking” an illness which saw him miss Barcelona’s Champions League clash at Antwerp, which they lost.
Barcelona had already secured qualification to the last 16 by topping Group H with a victory over Porto.
Hence the match against Antwerp was a dead rubber from a sporting perspective.
However, there was still significant prize money at stake, amounting to $3 million (£2.4m), based on UEFA figures.
Hence, it is believed that president Joan Laporta had asked Xavi to include all senior players in the squad.
Meaning just hours before their departure to Belgium, Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Ronald Araujo were handed their boarding passes.
However, De Jong who was excluded alongside three other senior players who did not travel due to “feverish” conditions.
According to RAC1, Deco was furious to see De Jong missing from the group and called him up to get clarity.
He did not believe that De Jong was sick.
He even asked for a certificate from a doctor to confirm his claims.
The pair then got involved in an argument, according to the report, as De Jong maintained that he was feeling unwell.
However, conflicting reports from Sport present a different version of events.
Read more: Xavi Admits Barcelona Are Suffering From ‘Confidence’ Crisis
They claim that although the phone call between Deco and De Jong did take place it had an informative and friendly tone.
So, Deco checked on De Jong’s well-being and instructing him to stay in contact with the doctor.
