![Barcelona's Dutch midfielder #21 Frenkie de Jong (L), Barcelona's Spanish forward #07 Ferran Torres and Barcelona's Polish forward #09 Robert Lewandowski (R) talk together during the warming-up before the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and CA Osasuna at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona on January 31, 2024.](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/fbl-esp-liga-barcelona-osasuna-3-1.jpg)
There is less than a week left till the big European event of this summer, the UEFA EURO 2024, kicks off, and several FC Barcelona players are going to participate in this competition.
One such player who will be donning his national team colors in the coming weeks will be the midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who is a key player for the Dutch national team.
However, there have been concerns about his physical condition ahead of this tournament, as he had to miss the last phase of the season for FC Barcelona after having left the field injured in the match against Real Madrid.
His grade-II right ankle sprain has kept him out of action for the Catalan side since that match on April 21. However, as SPORT has reported, the Dutchman spoke to the media and was quite optimistic that he will be able to play for his national side with full fitness.
Providing an update on his condition, the midfielder said: “My ankle is fine. I hope to be there for the first match, and it’s looking good. My goal is to play in the first match of the group stage.”
The Barcelona captain also opened up on how he feels as he continues with the process of recovering from this injury:
“When you’re injured, you’re constantly aware of it. When I wake up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom, I check how my ankle feels… I think about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
FC Barcelona fans will be hoping that the midfielder is able to meet the goal he has set for himself and can play at his best right from the start of the competition.
Frenkie has had a difficult last season, filled with news of him being linked with an exit from the club and having suffered from injuries, and hopefully, he will be able to be at his best for his national side before returning to Barcelona to play under Hansi Flick.