Xavi Anxious as De Jong's Injury Persists
Frenkie de Jong’s season has not even started, and already it feels like it’s slipping away from him.
The Barcelona midfielder returned from the FIFA World Cup carrying what was initially labelled 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 has been ruled out for the opening months of the new campaign. No firm return date. No clear turning point in sight.
Xavi’s new job, old concern
The situation has set alarm bells ringing far beyond Barcelona’s dressing room. According to SPORT, club legend and former Barça coach Xavi Hernandez is deeply worried about De Jong’s slow recovery.
And this time, the concern is not from the Camp Nou dugout.
Xavi has just taken over the Dutch national team, succeeding another Barcelona great, Ronald Koeman, as Oranje boss. His first matches in charge are scheduled for late September. Realistically, De Jong will not be there. The midfielder’s knee has not responded as hoped to conservative treatment, and the medical updates remain vague.
For a new national team coach, losing a central figure of De Jong’s calibre for his debut window is a serious blow. For Xavi, who knows exactly what the midfielder can offer in a system built around control and rhythm, it is a major frustration.
If the current approach fails to unlock progress, surgery looms as a very real option. That would mean an even longer spell out and a season reshaped around rehabilitation rather than competition.
A race against time and competition
While doctors and coaches weigh up risk and reward, De Jong is stuck in the most uncomfortable place for any elite footballer: the stands.
From there, he can only watch as his status in Barcelona’s starting XI comes under threat. The club have already moved to protect themselves, bringing in Rodri to occupy the role De Jong usually commands. Once someone else settles into that position, reclaiming it will demand not just full fitness, but top form, and quickly.
The clock will not stop for him.
De Jong backs his body
Despite the growing external concern, De Jong himself remains convinced that surgery is not the answer. He believes conservative management will be enough to get him back on the pitch, even as progress has been slower than expected.
Barcelona can only hope he is right. An operation at this stage would almost certainly wipe out the bulk of his season. It would also complicate any potential move in the winter window, closing off options just when his future might otherwise come into play.
For now, everything hangs on that knee responding. If it doesn’t, this could be the injury that reshapes not only De Jong’s year, but the plans of both Barcelona and the new-look Oranje under Xavi.
