The most demanding challenge for Frenkie de Jong

BarcelonaBarça has not skimped on social media posts to report on the return this week of Frenkie de Jong to group training. 136 days after the last time, the Dutch midfielder placed himself under Hansi Flick's orders on Tuesday. He worked for a while at the same pace as his teammates. There are reasons, therefore, to celebrate a little at the end of a long and tedious international break. But the path to this good news has not been easy. It has involved losses of confidence that are difficult to repair. And the fact is that three or four weeks before seeing him play a match again – the idea is for him to do so in mid-November – De Jong has ahead of him (to use cycling jargon) the most demanding stage since he arrived at Camp Nou.

The first doubt that the former Ajax player must dispel is physical. He has been recovering since the summer from a tear in the medial collateral ligament of his right knee that he suffered during the last World Cup. It is not the most serious injury that this joint can suffer, but his case is especially delicate because 1) he took a risk and had an injection so as not to miss the round of 16 of the competition despite knowing that he was injured and 2) once eliminated, instead of returning to Barcelona and focusing all his attention on healing, he decided to spend 10 days on vacation in Ibiza. Pushing the machine not only complicated the injury; it also served to put the oranje medical services on the spot with words in which he blamed them for not warning him that the tear could get worse. On the other hand, choosing disconnection over recovery meant the knee lost precious days to start healing.

Since De Jong skipped the immobilization phase, key in conservative treatments, Barça's medical services recommended surgery to ensure the tissues were properly healed. But the Dutchman rejected the idea and has set out to return to the pitch by following an alternative route, without established deadlines and prioritizing his own sensations over those of the professionals from his national team and the club that pays him 20 million gross annually until 2029. A few months away from turning thirty, he does not have a complete guarantee that his knee will be the same as it was before the World Cup. In fact, as reported by the podcast Barça Reservat, Manchester City gathered information during the last transfer market about his health and did not receive reassuring answers. The citizens were looking for a replacement for Rodri Hernández and finally filled the gap by spending a fortune on Enzo Fernández and Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Recovering De Jong as an economic asset

Faced with this interest that would have led to an interesting transfer, Barça did not close the door. Quite the opposite. At that moment, the Blaugrana officials were very upset with De Jong's attitude and were open to selling him. In fact, in this context of disappointment with the footballer and uncertainty regarding his recovery, they decided to activate the signing of Rodri himself, who plays in his position. Two months after that sequence of events, the Dutchman is close to being medically cleared and tempers are less heated, but sources in the Blaugrana dressing room point out to ARA that, in the eyes of the sports management, the ultimate goal of De Jong's full recovery is not for him to return to being an essential piece for Hansi Flick, but to turn him into a physically reliable asset for other teams. In this sense, it is no coincidence that the club is showing so explicitly that he is running and smiling as if nothing had happened.

The reality, however, is that trust has been broken as a result of recent events. Flick, who made him a key piece in his first season on the Barcelona bench, has removed him from the first captaincy in favor of Raphinha and Pedri. Deco, who signed him to a multi-million euro renewal until 2029 a year ago, is today open to selling him to anyone who comes with a decent proposal. And Joan Laporta, who not long ago saved him from Mateu Alemany's attempts to get rid of him, is beginning to see that it is better to be more expedient with De Jong to avoid him becoming an economic problem like Marc-André ter Stegen. Meanwhile, the Dutchman, an expert at surfing the noise, will once again rely on his exuberance to regain the lost trust. He has it harder than ever and the competition is piling up. But when it comes to being stubborn, no one beats him.