Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was withdrawn at half-time during their defeat to Real Sociedad, seemingly nursing a knee injury after he clashed with an opposition player. After five months out of action this year, it refreshed fears of a potential injury issue.
However after tests this morning, it appears de Jong has been cleared of injury. The Dutchman only has a knock on his shin, according to Adria Albets, while Sport say that he was taken off out of precaution on Sunday night.
De Jong tiene sólo un golpe en la tibia de la pierna izquierda, no hay lesión. Ayer cambio por precaución. @QueThiJugues @carrusel
— Adrià Albets (@AdriaAlbets) November 11, 2024
De Jong will travel to Amsterdam to meet up with the Netherlands squad for their upcoming international games against Hungary and then Bosnia and Herzegovina next week. Dutch manager Ronald Koeman has been highly critical of Barcelona’s handling of de Jong’s fitness in recent months, and it remains to be seen whether he will want to risk him.
Flick: "I told the referee that he made a bad decision with Lewandowski's offside."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 10, 2024
Barcelona do have options in midfield, with Gavi now back from injury, joining Marc Casado, Fermin Lopez, Dani Olmo, Pedri and Pablo Torre amongst Flick’s options. Only Pedri, Casado, de Jong and Gavi seem likely to feature in the deeper roles though, which Flick has been using two of, and the starting pair of Casado and Pedri have already racked up nearly 1,000 minutes.
