Xavi Concerned as De Jong's Injury Continues
Frenkie de Jong’s season has not even started, and already it feels like it’s slipping away.
The Barcelona midfielder returned from the FIFA World Cup carrying what was initially described as a minor problem. He played through the pain, pushed his body for club and country, and then paid the price. By the time he landed back in Catalonia, the discomfort had escalated into a serious right knee ligament issue.
Now, he is out for the opening months of the new campaign. No clear return date. No obvious progress.
Xavi’s new job, old concern
The situation has set alarm bells ringing for one man in particular: Xavi Hernandez.
The Barcelona legend, now confirmed as the new head coach of the Dutch national team, is watching De Jong’s slow recovery with growing concern, according to SPORT. Xavi has taken over the Oranje from another former Barça figure, Ronald Koeman, and naturally sees De Jong as a cornerstone of his project.
Instead, he finds himself planning without him.
De Jong remains on a conservative treatment plan for his knee, working away from the spotlight while the season moves on without him. The medical staff have not pencilled in a return date, and the expected improvement simply has not arrived. If that pattern continues, the prospect of surgery will move from theoretical to likely — and with it, a much longer spell on the sidelines.
Xavi’s first matches in charge of the Netherlands are scheduled for late September. Realistically, De Jong will not be there. For a new national team coach, that is a major tactical and emotional blow.
Barca turn the page
The damage is not only international.
At Barcelona, De Jong is having to watch from a distance as his role in the starting XI is quietly reshaped. The club have already moved to reinforce the position, bringing in Rodri to occupy the space the Dutchman normally commands.
Every week he misses, the competition for his place hardens. When he does return, he will not simply walk back into the team.
For a player who has long been seen as central to Barça’s midfield future, the timing could hardly be worse. The club are building rhythm, relationships, and a new structure without him. He is stuck in the treatment room, fighting to make sure this is a detour, not a turning point.
De Jong backs conservative route
Despite the growing noise around him, De Jong remains convinced he can avoid the operating table. His stance is clear: conservative management should be enough, and surgery is not necessary.
The club would love that to be true.
A procedure at this stage would almost certainly wipe out the majority of his season. It would also freeze any realistic chance of a winter transfer, should Barcelona decide to explore that avenue. For all parties, the scalpel is the worst-case scenario.
So the wait goes on. The knee is tested, monitored, protected. Xavi draws up plans for the Oranje without his most natural midfield organiser. Barcelona settle into life with Rodri at the base.
De Jong, once a guaranteed starter for club and country, now faces a very different challenge: when his body finally allows it, can he reclaim a place that may no longer be waiting for him?
