Frenkie de Jong is no closer to a Barcelona return – so what’s going on?

“Frenkie de Jong? He is in the recovery process,” said Barcelona boss Hansi Flick two weeks ago, before his side’s last La Liga game against Real Valladolid.

“He’s taken a big step forward and now it’s time to wait. He is doing some training and we’ll keep monitoring. I hope he can be back after the international break, but I can’t confirm it right now.”

Flick’s optimism contrasted with the worrying reality of De Jong’s situation. The Dutch midfielder has been injured since April with an ankle issue that forced him to miss the European Championship with the Netherlands this summer.

Barca need the 27-year-old more than ever after the season-ending injury suffered by Marc Bernal and a lack of signings in holding midfield. La Masia graduate Marc Casado and centre-back Eric Garcia are Flick’s only options in that position.

But with the German about to welcome back Barca’s players after the international break, De Jong is no closer to returning.

He has yet to start training again with his team-mates and has spent recent weeks on his own, monitored by the club’s medical staff. Dressing-room sources — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — say De Jong was still feeling pain a couple of weeks ago and didn’t think he was ready to play.

Those sources say there is no chance he is available for Barca’s La Liga game against Girona on Sunday.

De Jong was injured in Barca’s game against Real Madrid in April (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Nobody at Barca has dared to set a return date for De Jong, causing surprise among many fans as to what is going on.

De Jong suffered that ankle injury in the last La Liga Clasico against Real Madrid in April. The midfielder’s left foot twisted the wrong way after a challenge by Federico Valverde that led to a sprain. It was the Dutchman’s third consecutive injury of the season of that kind on the same ankle.

The first such injury took place in September 2023, which led to him missing 14 games at the start of last season. In March, he suffered a further blow in a Copa del Rey match against Athletic Bilbao. He managed to recover fairly quickly and performed well in the Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain despite Barca’s exit — before the most significant injury against Madrid.

De Jong missed the last six games of the season, but Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman still called him up for the Euros in Germany. It didn’t take him long to realise De Jong wouldn’t be ready for that either.

*So far

“He has a background with that injury and we need to think about his health,” Koeman told a press conference in June. “Barcelona decided to take risks during the season and now there is this price to pay (Barca previously declined to comment when this was put to them by The Athletic).

“We were optimistic with him and hoped to have him by the end of the group stage. But eventually, we saw that would not be the case, so it’s best not to include him on the (final) list.”

De Jong’s situation has not improved much since then. He joined up with Flick’s squad on the first day of pre-season in July, but sources say the pain in his ankle didn’t go away and he was then unable to travel with them to their tour of the United States.

The coaching staff were waiting for developments during this international break, but now De Jong’s progress is impossible to predict.

Barca sources say De Jong has injured the ligaments in his ankle. The midfielder has been given time to heal, but sources close to the dressing room say how he feels will dictate when he returns to action.

The club have suggested De Jong undergo surgery, which senior sources believe would be the best option for the player. But they say De Jong is not keen on that, as there is no guarantee from doctors consulted by the club that surgery would solve his ankle problems. He prefers to follow a conservative treatment, working with club physios in the hope the pain eventually fades.

Being operated would also lead to De Jong being sidelined for several more months. The expectation is he will not be able to play until 2025 — when he will have entered the final 18 months of his contract, which expires in 2026.

It is no secret that Barca have tried to sell De Jong on multiple occasions. President Joan Laporta inherited the midfielder’s contract from Josep Maria Bartomeu, who convinced De Jong to sign an extension with a salary deferral to help the club during the pandemic. But that meant he would be paid the biggest share of his wages towards the end of his contract, meaning Laporta had to deal with it.

According to club sources, De Jong is now the second biggest earner at the club, just behind Robert Lewandowski — reports in local media say the Dutchman’s deal will cost Barca more than €20million ($22m; £17m) this season.

Manchester United made a lucrative offer for De Jong in the summer of 2022 and the club were willing to accept it — but De Jong’s desire to stay at the club where he dreamed of playing as a kid outweighed the pressure he was under and he stayed put.

Sporting director Deco changed tack after taking the role in August 2023, contacting De Jong’s camp to let them know the club wanted to engage in talks over a contract extension. A new deal would give Barca the chance to spread De Jong’s wages over more time and give them room to manoeuvre with him.

But no progress has been made on a potential new deal. If De Jong’s situation doesn’t change, the chances of him leaving on a free transfer in 2026 will be seen as a real risk.

De Jong and Barca now find themselves at a crossroads: De Jong because it is unclear when he will return, and the club because they have been dragged into a weak negotiating position with one of their highest-valued assets. All while Flick could most do with De Jong’s influence in midfield.

(Top photo: Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)