Barcelona star center midfielder Frenkie de Jong was one of the best midfielders in the world during the 2022/23 season when Barca won LaLiga, but he was far from his best last season.
This was in part due to Sergio Busquets’ departure to MLS, but it was also in part due to de Jong’s injury woes. He suffered nagging ankle injuries throughout the season, and, now, he has yet to play in the 2024/25 campaign under Hansi Flick due to a serious ankle injury he picked up last season.
The good news is that de Jong is set to make his return to the Barcelona lineup soon. Diario AS reports that Barcelona believe he can return to action next week against Getafe in LaLiga on Sept. 25.
That leaves Frenkie de Jong out of the Champions League opener against Monaco and a tough weekend encounter in LaLiga against Villarreal, but it is better to ease de Jong along anyway.
A return next week against Getafe would be sooner than expected and a great chance for FDJ to get back into the swing of things. After rumors linking him with a move away from Barcelona due to his inflated 30 million-plus wages, it will be intriguing to see how Hansi Flick can get the most out of the Dutchman.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.