According to the latest report from Sport, Barcelona is dissatisfied with how the Dutch national team and De Jong himself handled his injury.
Reportedly, Barcelona will be without De Jong at the start of the new season, and the club still needs to finalize the exact severity of his knee injury and his recovery period. They are awaiting his return from vacation to get a definitive diagnosis, and as things stand, the outlook is not optimistic.
If the knee injury is confirmed to be serious, Barcelona plans to register him for a long-term injury absence, which would free up more salary space for the first team. However, this operation requires the player's consent to proceed.
Barcelona is quite displeased with how the Dutch national team and the player himself handled this injury incident. The club hopes to thoroughly resolve the entire matter this week. De Jong had already sustained a relatively serious knee injury during the World Cup, and it is rumored that he played through the injury in the last few matches for the Dutch team.
The Dutch midfielder chose to visit the Barcelona training ground during his vacation for a comprehensive examination by the team doctor to verify the extent of his injury. All examinations have been completed, and it is estimated that his absence due to injury could exceed 4 months.
In this situation, if the player is not expected to return until at least December, Barcelona will proceed with the long-term injury registration process. FIFA will compensate Barcelona with over 2 million euros for this injury.
In addition, Barcelona can deduct a portion of De Jong's salary for the corresponding period until he recovers from his injury. De Jong is one of the highest-paid players in the squad, and the freed-up salary budget can be used to register new signings.
De Jong is required to report back to the team this week, but he clearly cannot participate in regular training, nor will the team arrange for him to travel to England for the pre-season training camp. Barcelona will later announce the specific duration of his injury layoff and recovery plan. This injury is undoubtedly a major blow to Flick's team-building plans.
Flick is well aware that this is a serious setback, as De Jong was already a key starter in his plans. Barcelona has no intention of signing a new midfielder for this, believing that the current personnel are sufficient to cover the position and will give more playing opportunities to players who can competently fill the defensive midfield role.
Bernal is the most direct alternative, and this could also be a crucial boost for the youngster to firmly establish himself. Flick has been focusing on nurturing him since taking over, and internally, Barcelona firmly believes that Bernal can serve as the team's primary defensive midfielder for the next decade.
De Jong's injury will not change the trajectory of Casado's departure. Barcelona has already decided to evaluate transfer offers for Casado, striving to facilitate a win-win transfer deal for all parties. His departure process is highly likely to accelerate officially in August.
Barcelona also hopes to clarify the cause of De Jong's injury and the handling process during the Dutch national team's training camp. The club believes that this injury could have been avoided, and it has caused a negative impact on both the team and the individual player.
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