The injury Frenkie de Jong sustained during the recently concluded World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada is now more serious than initially feared. FC Barcelona will have to do without its midfield playmaker for longer.
After a long season that included 25 league games and eight Champions League matches for Barcelona, as well as four games for the Netherlands at the World Cup, de Jong had to cut his vacation short to return to Barcelona for further examinations. The 29-year-old had sustained a knee injury during the tournament, yet he still played until the 110th minute of the Round of 32 match against Morocco (2–3 on penalties).
“The only challenge was playing through some pain,” de Jong said via Instagram after the Oranje’s doctors in the U.S. had diagnosed only a minor injury. So de Jong continued to play despite the injury. Further examinations have now revealed that the minor injury is “more serious than initially thought”—specifically, a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee, as FC Barcelona announced on Thursday.
No surgery
It is unclear how long de Jong will be sidelined for the Spanish champions. What is clear is that he will not undergo surgery. His recovery will be “closely monitored in the coming weeks,” Barça said. It remains to be seen when Hansi Flick will be able to count on his midfield anchor again. The Catalans kick off their title defense on August 23 (9:30 p.m.) at FC Elche.