De Jong Breaks Silence on Injury and Hits Back at ‘False’ Reports
De Jong has had enough. The Barcelona midfielder sat down with the club’s own media on Friday to give his side of the knee injury that will keep him out for months — and to answer the reporting that has followed him since he limped out of the World Cup.
Frenkie de Jong, 29, did not hide his frustration. “I feel there’s a lot of hype surrounding me, a lot of fake news and things like that, and it’s bothering me,” he told Barça Play, as relayed by Barça Universal. “That’s why I’m here today, to set the record straight.”
How De Jong’s World Cup injury got worse
The vice-captain tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on international duty with the Netherlands, and insists it was nothing more than bad luck. “I think it was just bad luck, a pure accident. Someone fell on me during one of our World Cup training sessions and I felt some discomfort in my knee,” he explained. Scans at the time flagged only a minor problem, and he says he was cleared to carry on.
“We had tests and everyone in the national team camp told me I could continue playing despite some discomfort, and that the situation wouldn’t get worse. That’s why I kept playing, because playing in a World Cup is a dream for me.”
The full picture only emerged once he was back in Catalonia. “After we were eliminated, I returned to the club for further tests to make sure everything was fine. They showed that the injury had become more serious than it had been in the USA. It was a huge shock that nobody expected.” Mundo Deportivo reported that he is following a conservative treatment plan and is expected to be out for several months, adding to an already busy Barça treatment room.
The Gerard Romero row
What stung was not the diagnosis but the narrative built around it. De Jong named Spanish journalist Gerard Romero directly, rejecting the claim that he had made himself unavailable for a Champions League tie against Atlético Madrid last season. “That’s false. It’s false. It’s simply not true,” he said, in comments carried by Barça Blaugranes. “My dream is to play for Barça, especially in important Champions League matches. Of course I want to play.”
He was just as firm on the suggestion of a rift with his manager. “Then he said that my relationship with the coach is very bad, which is completely false. I have a very good relationship with the coach. I talk to him a lot. You can ask him about all of this.” And he served notice that the silence is over: “I’m not going to let it slide anymore, because he needs to understand that if he puts things out that aren’t true, I’m going to call him out on it.”
What De Jong’s absence means for Flick’s midfield
Barcelona still have to cover the hole. Pedri, Gavi, Fermín López, Dani Olmo, Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal give Hansi Flick real depth, but none of them does quite the job De Jong does between the lines — part of why the Blaugrana have spent the summer chasing Rodri.
The Dutchman sounded like a man determined to come back better than he left. He praised the academy — “La Masia is incredible. Every year players come through that we don’t even know, and then within a year they become very important players for the team. That is the DNA of the club” — and said of the summer arrivals: “They are very good players and very good people. They are going to help us a lot, and I’m trying to help them adapt as easily as possible.”
After a Champions League quarter-final exit last season, the target is obvious. “Every year we want to win everything,” De Jong said. “I think there is especially a huge amount of excitement and ambition around the Champions League.” He will just have to watch the start of it from the stands.
