Frenkie de Jong's Future at Barcelona in Doubt as Hansi Flick Loses Trust
Frenkie de Jong’s status as an untouchable at Barcelona is slipping away. Quietly at first, then all at once.
Fresh reports in Spain now suggest Hansi Flick no longer views the Dutch midfielder as a guaranteed pillar of his project, opening the door to a possible exit that would have been unthinkable not long ago.
According to Gerard Romero, Flick has grown increasingly unconvinced by De Jong’s recent performances and by his overall importance within the squad structure. The tone has changed. So has the internal conversation. Where once De Jong was seen as non-negotiable, Barcelona are now ready to at least listen if a serious offer lands on the table before the transfer window closes.
This shift comes just days after reports of a deteriorating relationship between coach and player, a rift that has dragged one of the dressing room’s senior figures into a very public grey area about his long-term future.
Trust Lost on a Champions League Night
The roots of this tension do not lie in one bad game or a single training session. They stretch back to the closing stages of last season, to a Champions League night that changed everything.
The turning point came during Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid in the 2025/26 season. De Jong had been cleared by the club’s medical staff to start and was expected to play around an hour. For a tie of that magnitude, that medical green light usually means one thing: you play.
De Jong did not.
Despite the clearance, the Dutch international is said to have opted against featuring, unwilling to take what he viewed as an unnecessary risk with his body. From a player’s perspective, it was a decision about career longevity and self-preservation. From a manager’s point of view, it cut much deeper.
That call is understood to have significantly altered Flick’s view of the midfielder. Trust, once cracked at that level, is hard to rebuild. The relationship between the pair has reportedly deteriorated since that night, and the aftershocks are now shaping Barcelona’s transfer stance.
Injury, Uncertainty, and a Changing Hierarchy
Barcelona are currently monitoring De Jong’s recovery from the knee injury he suffered during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On paper, that should be the main concern: get a key player fit, then reintegrate him.
It no longer feels that simple.
Questions around his future are no longer tied solely to his fitness. They are wrapped up in Flick’s tactical plans, his assessment of De Jong’s recent impact, and that lingering sense of broken trust.
Romero’s latest information is stark. Barcelona are no longer completely opposed to selling the midfielder. If a suitable proposal arrives this summer, the club could be prepared to part ways with a player who, in previous windows, was treated as off-limits.
Inside the dressing room, De Jong still stands as one of the senior figures, a reference point for younger players and a symbol of the club’s recent rebuild. Yet his ongoing knee issue has left Barcelona waiting for clarity on when he will be fully available again. Now they are also waiting for clarity on whether he truly fits Flick’s long-term vision.
The tension is unmistakable. A manager unconvinced, a senior player recovering, a club suddenly open to conversations it once refused to entertain.
If the right bid arrives, does Barcelona let go of one of its most established names? Or does De Jong fight his way back into Flick’s plans and reclaim the trust that slipped away on that Champions League night?
