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Frenkie de Jong is back for Barcelona. It's one of those good problems to have

At Barcelona's traditional season-opening Joan Gamper Trophy friendly in early August, Frenkie de Jong was mocked by some fans as the 2024-25 team was unveiled.

He made his first appearance this season on Tuesday evening against Young Boys in the Champions League, marking an important step in the difficult recovery from injury.

The 27-year-old Dutchman waited on the sidelines and watched as Lamine Yamal wiped the sweat from his face in the 75th minute. The winger didn't realize he was being substituted and a Young Boys player had to alert him to what was happening. The audience also witnessed it.

When De Jong finally entered the pitch there was applause from the Barca stands. It wasn't a standing ovation like the one his fellow substitute Ansu Fati had received just minutes earlier, but it was still a warm welcome back.

“The fans applauded me, thank you very much for that, it was a happy evening,” De Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar after the 5-0 win (he came on as a substitute in the 4-0). “I didn’t expect anything, you never know. But I'm very happy with the way people treat me. It took a long time, a hard process, and I had a difficult time.”

De Jong suffered an ankle injury in April that ruled him out for the remainder of last season as well as the European Championships. But at the beginning of September there was still no concrete return date and concerns grew as De Jong continued to feel pain in the area.

Rumors started. Some of them really angered De Jong, who is upset about what has been leaking about him at the club for some time – dating back to a tense transfer window in the summer of 2022 when Barca wanted to sell him to Manchester United.

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The media reports that hurt him the most were the claims about his salary and the repetition of false rumors that although the club's doctors had recommended surgery to fix his ankle problem, he did not want it.

In an interview published by the club, he said: “They have said a lot about me, that I don't want to have an operation and that they are paying me a lot of money.” Very high figures, around 37 million euros, and it's very, very far from that removed.

“I understand people who are frustrated because they think I'm paying a lot of money, they say he needs surgery but he doesn't want it and he's on holiday, he doesn't train. But it's not true.

“We agreed with the doctors that not having surgery would be the best option. I don't understand where these things come from. I understand that people are frustrated because they didn’t have all the information because I stayed silent.”

The situation had created a breeding ground. De Jong may have been nervous about his reception when he finally returned.

With Barca already in control on Tuesday evening, Hansi Flick took the chance to substitute De Jong with around 15 minutes left. It was a game that wasn't very demanding anyway and so the Dutchman had a few pleasant minutes to get back into the swing of things on the pitch.

In his press conference after the game, Flick said it was “an important step” for him to “be back with the team.”

The German added: “In my opinion he ran too much but it was good for him to get used to the pressure the opponents were putting on him.

“Before his injury he was one of the most important players and we want to get him back. We have to help him and support him. We know he needs time and we will give it to him. He puts in a lot of effort and is very professional. Those are things I really value and I think he deserves our patience.”

In his time on the pitch, De Jong had 22 touches of the ball, made 19 passes and had a pass accuracy of 89 percent. You can't take too much away from a player's performance in such a short space of time in a game that's already been won – especially when he's coming back from injury – but it did raise some questions.

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Flick used De Jong as an advanced midfielder off the bench and retained Marc Casado as a defensive lynchpin. Although Casado wasn't Flick's first choice at the start of the season – 17-year-old Marc Bernal was preferred before his cruciate ligament injury – he has impressed in this role.

In fact, 21-year-old Casado has delivered wherever Flick has used him in midfield so far this season and has shown valuable versatility now that he has been brought into the first team. With every game he looks more reliable and deserves to be in the starting line-up. He was Barca's best player against Monaco and he was also at a high level in the second Champions League game of the season last night.


Casado fights for the ball in Barcelona's 5-0 win against Young Boys (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

With De Jong back, the big question is whether the Catalan will now play an increasingly reduced role or whether Flick will unite the two in a double pivot in midfield. Casado used to play with Bernal at Barcelona Atletic, the reserve team of the club, which currently plays in Spain's third division.

However, Gavi is also close to returning and could take on the deeper role he previously played alongside De Jong.

Flick sees De Jong primarily as a defensive midfielder, but De Jong has never really impressed as a sole pivot at Barca and his best moments came with Sergio Busquets (who left in the summer of 2023) in that position alongside him. Everything seems to point to him being accompanied, although perhaps Flick's overall playing style suits him better than Xavi's.

As an advanced player, it will be difficult for De Jong to get consistent minutes ahead of Pedri, Dani Olmo or Gavi, plus there is Fermin Lopez and Pablo Torre.

With De Jong having only taken an early (but important) step back towards full match fitness, the most likely scenario is that Casado will remain Barca's midfielder and the Dutchman will continue to rack up plenty of minutes. Conclusions will follow later. Casado needs to be tested against more demanding opponents such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid – Barca face both later this month – then it will become clear which players Flick has for the big games.

So far, the German coach has already brought out the best version of many players, including Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, whose fine goalscoring qualities continued with a double that took him nine goals from ten games in all competitions this season.

Fans will hope he can achieve the same with De Jong.

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Raphinha's reinvention at Barcelona: Hansi Flick has developed his athleticism

(Top photo: Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

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