Xavi Anxious as De Jong's Injury Drags On

Frenkie de Jong’s season has not even started, and already it feels like it’s slipping away.

The Barcelona midfielder returned from the FIFA World Cup carrying what was initially labelled a minor problem. He played through the pain, pushed his body, and then paid the price. By the time he landed back in Catalonia, the injury had flared up badly and his condition was described as poor.

Now, he has been ruled out for the opening months of the new campaign, with no clear date circled for his comeback.

Xavi watching and waiting

The situation has set alarm bells ringing not only at Barcelona, but also in the offices of the Dutch federation. According to SPORT, club legend and former Barça coach Xavi Hernandez is deeply worried about De Jong’s slow recovery.

He has every reason to be. Xavi has just taken over as manager of the Netherlands, succeeding another Barcelona icon, Ronald Koeman, and was counting on De Jong to be a pillar of his new Oranje project.

The two will now be linked in a different shirt. But for the moment, they cannot work together at all.

De Jong is still dealing with a right knee ligament problem and is undergoing conservative treatment. The plan is rest, rehab and patience. The reality is frustration. His condition is not improving at the speed the medical staff had hoped, and the calendar is moving faster than his recovery.

If the knee does not respond, surgery looms as a very real possibility. And that word changes everything.

Go under the knife now, and De Jong would be out for a significantly longer spell, missing a large chunk of the season and almost certainly any chance of a winter transfer.

Xavi’s debut as Netherlands coach is scheduled for late September. Barring a miracle, De Jong will not be there. For a coach who built much of his footballing ideology around a player like Frenkie, it is a brutal early setback.

Barcelona move on – with or without him

While the medical reports stack up, the football does not wait.

From the stands, De Jong can only watch as his place in Barcelona’s starting XI drifts further away. The club have already brought in Rodri to occupy his role in midfield. The message is clear: the team must function, with or without its Dutch conductor.

When De Jong does eventually return, he will not be walking back into a guaranteed spot. He will be chasing one.

Yet the midfielder remains convinced that the conservative route is the right one. As it stands, he believes he can avoid surgery and work his way back through treatment and managed workloads.

Barcelona will cling to that optimism. A successful non-surgical recovery would not only save their midfield balance, it would also keep future options open, both sporting and financial.

If the knee refuses to cooperate, though, the club face a far harsher scenario: a long-term absentee, a blocked transfer market, and a key player trying to restart his career from a hospital bed rather than a training pitch.

For De Jong, for Xavi, and for Barcelona, the next few weeks will not just define a recovery. They could shape an entire season.