Key Barcelona midfielder provides fitness update after returning to the pitch with his national side | OneFootball

After missing several important midfielders at the start of this 2024-25 season, FC Barcelona recovered most of them in the last month. As things stand, only Marc Bernal is the midfielder in the Blaugrana squad who is unavailable due to injury.

In the last few weeks, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Fermin Lopez, and Frenkie de Jong all recovered from their respective injuries. Frenkie de Jong’s return was particularly important as he is one of the key midfielders in this Barcelona team and also one of its captains, but the Dutchman is still yet to return to his best level.

However, he is making progress, and last night, he returned to the pitch for his Dutch national side after a year, having missed out on the UEFA EURO 2024 as well.

As SPORT has reported, the Dutch midfielder spoke to the media after the game, and expressed his happiness about being able to return to the pitch for his national side: “It’s been a while since I last played; I’m happy to be back.

Frenkie also made it clear that he is still not back to his best physical level: “I’m not saying it’s a risk, but the feeling isn’t the same as before. It should improve from now on.”

The Barcelona midfielder also provided an update on his status for the upcoming Netherlands game: “I will stay with the national team, but I won’t start the next game.”

Ronald Koeman, now the head coach of the Dutch national team, seemingly wants to take things slow with De Jong, as he is one of the most important players in his national side as well.

Furthermore, the Dutch have already qualified for the next round of the UEFA Nations League, and there would be no point in risking the midfielder for a game that will have very low stakes.