Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has confirmed midfielder Frenkie de Jong will make his eagerly-awaited return from injury in Tuesday’s Champions League tie with Young Boys.
Netherlands international De Jong has not played since April due to an ankle issue, which ruled him out of Euro 2024.
The influential 27-year-old has returned to training this month and Flick revealed De Jong is set to feature off the bench against Young Boys.
🎙️ Hansi Flick: “Young Boys have good players — fast players. They are a very complete team. It’s important that my players know what awaits them tomorrow.” @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/5dys0AT3CJ
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 30, 2024
“It’s an excellent bit of news to have Frenkie back with us, whether it is five or 10 minutes,” Flick said at a press conference.
“He is very important for us and we see that finally the injured players are slowly but surely making their return to the squad.
“After October maybe we’ll have two or three more players back with us and any coach is happy to have players back.
“Frenkie’s attitude has been great. He’s been involved with the team, he’s seen the young players and he’s been willing to help the team.
“We spoke about that and we needed his presence. Now that the opportunity is here, he will be ready. Not perhaps to play 45 minutes, but maybe 20 or 10 and it will do him a lot of good.”
Flick was less forthcoming about Wojciech Szczęsny, who arrived in Barcelona on Monday to finalise a move to the club.
Ex-Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny only announced his retirement in August, but has been tempted back to the sport after Barca number one Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a serious knee injury earlier this month.
Pressed on the 34-year-old Pole, Flick said: “Well, I normally don’t talk about players that don’t belong to the team and right now he doesn’t.
“I can tell you no player gets a guarantee to be a fixed starter. That is not something I do.
“I spoke with him but I cannot reveal more. As I said before, once the signing will become official, on Saturday when I sit here again I can answer these questions, but I can’t now.”
After Barca made an impressive start to life under Flick with seven straight wins in LaLiga, they have now lost two of their last four matches in all competitions.
Barcelona started their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Monaco and while Young Boys were thrashed 3-0 by Aston Villa, the German coach will not underestimate the Swiss side.
He added: “Of course we have analysed our opponent like we do with any opponent. They are still defending champions.
“They have had a rough start to their season but we saw against Aston Villa that they are brave and good in the transition so we need to be careful.
“We want our team to be brave as well and our mentality has to be the right one.”
Meanwhile, Barca have announced they have agreed a contract adjustment with Marc Bernal which means the 17-year-old midfielder is now tied to the club until June 30, 2026 – when his status as an under-19 player ends – with an option for three more years. Bernal’s new deal has a buyout clause of 500million euros (£415m).
