With the departures of Ter Stegen and Ronald Araújo, first and second captain of FC Barcelona, on loan to Ajax and Liverpool, respectively, changes were coming to the Barça captaincy, made up of five players chosen by the team and in which seniority in the club has an important weight.
To date, De Jong, who arrived at Barcelona in 2019, was the third member of the quintet of captains, which was completed by Raphinha and Pedri. However, the Dutchman had to be promoted to first captain, ahead of Raphinha and Pedri, and act as the team's representative in the speech prior to tomorrow's Gamper against Al-Ahly. But it won't be like that. While the Dutchman recovers from his right knee injury, Flick has decided to provisionally modify the captaincy and elect Raphinha, leaving the final vote in the hands of the dressing room once the squad is closed.
"Raphinha will speak at the Gamper. Frenkie, at the moment, is not available. And I have decided to wait to choose the captains because our squad is not yet finalized. I think there may still be some players who arrive or some who leave," explains Flick in statements to the club's media. "When everything is closed, we will do the voting. Until that happens, Rafa is the captain, along with Eric Garcia and Pedri, because Frenkie is injured and I have decided this," completed the coach, who has chosen the Brazilian, who arrived at Barcelona in 2022, due to his ascendancy in the team, both on and off the field of play.
Next, along the same lines that De Jong expressed in the interview he gave to the club's media, Flick wanted to make it clear that "the relationship between Frenkie and I is very good. He is a very mature and very professional player. I always talk to him about everything that happens around the team and also about the next game. We have a really good relationship and, for me, he is an important player because he has enormous quality and can contribute a lot to us," he said.
The decision comes as De Jong recovers from a total tear of the internal collateral ligament in his right knee that he suffered during the World Cup. The Dutchman played undercover in the Netherlands' last two games. "I had very bad luck. Someone fell on me in training during the World Cup and I had a little discomfort in my knee. I took tests and it turned out that there was something small. They told me that I could continue playing, that I was going to be uncomfortable and in pain, but that I could continue. They assured me that it couldn't get worse and I continued playing, because the World Cup is a dream," explained the Dutchman in the official Barça media in an interview that he himself requested to explain himself.
The reality was much more serious upon his return to Barcelona. On July 13, the club's medical tests detected a complete tear of the internal lateral ligament in the right knee. “It was very hard, because neither I nor anyone expected it,” De Jong said. Barça's medical services initially recommended surgery, although the footballer has opted for stem cell treatment which, a month later, still does not allow him to work normally.
De Jong, who arrived in 2019 and renewed six months ago until 2029, defends that “everyone agrees with the treatment I am following.” The precedent of the ankle, when he also refused to undergo surgery and ended up regaining his place with Flick, reinforces his confidence. This time, however, the injury and the arrival of Rodri raise the competition. And, for now, the hierarchy and its weight in the locker room have also changed in the captaincy.
"I'm very screwed. I've been at the club for seven years. It has always been my dream to play for Barcelona, it still is and I have dreams to fulfill," said De Jong in the aforementioned interview and before learning about Flick's decision that the coach himself conveyed to him before it became public.
However, he has surrounded himself with his family, who has traveled to Barcelona to be by his side during this process. Those who know him assure that he is convinced that the treatment will work and he faces it with patience and optimism, step by step, with the great objective of regaining his place in the starting eleven.
At Barcelona they do not rule out that he ends up undergoing surgery. If the loss reaches four months, in addition, Barça could free up 50% of its deposit to register another player. In your case, the released margin would be around 15 million euros gross. In addition, FIFA could compensate the club with around 1.89 million for the injury, which occurred during the World Cup, if it results in more than 28 consecutive days of temporary total disability.
