Barcelona midfield mainstay still needs 3-4 weeks to return to group training

Back in April, when Frenkie de Jong suffered an ankle injury – his third of the 2023/24 season, it was suggested that the Dutchman would be out for a little over a month.

The expectation was that the 26-year-old would be ready in time for the start of the UEFA Euro 2024 and was even included in the Netherlands squad for the tournament.

However, after assessing his fitness levels, Ronald Koeman decided to drop De Jong from the squad, while bashing Barça for the manner in which they had handled the midfielder’s injury.

Still 3-4 weeks away

De Jong has been working hard on recovery and reports earlier this week suggested that the midfielder felt he was close to mounting full recovery.

However, that is not the case as journalist Achraf Ben Ayad reports that De Jong is still not ready to make a comeback.

In fact, the Netherlands international still needs 3-4 weeks to recover and rejoin group training sessions.

De Jong underwent medical tests yesterday, i.e., the first day of Barcelona’s pre-season under Hansi Flick. And his right ankle still showed major swelling, leading to concerns within the club.

With the aforementioned update claiming that De Jong might still need at least three weeks to make a comeback to group training, his involvement for the majority of the pre-season might be ruled out.

It even casts aspersions over the midfield mainstay’s availability for the first game of the season against Valencia.

In fact, reports earlier today indicated that if things do not improve in the coming days, the possibility of De Jong undergoing surgery is not ruled out either. Such a scenario would lead to a longer absence for the midfielder.

It goes without saying that the situation is far from ideal for not only the player but also new manager Hansi Flick, who has to deal with the absence of several important players early in his tenure.