FC Barcelona have been dealt a crushing blow for the rest of the campaign after 17-year-old La Masia sensation Marc Bernal ruptured the cruciate ligament on his left knee which will see him miss the rest of the season at the very least.
This has left the club scrambling for options in the market with not long left until the transfer window shuts. Barcelona turned their attention to Liverpool midfielder Stefan Bajcectic but lack of FFP means that the deal cannot go through even if they wanted it to.
We covered a story yesterday revealing that Hansi Flick sees two players in the squad who can potentially replace Marc Bernal in the pivot position. The two players the German wants to count on are Marc Casado and Frenkie de Jong.
However, as per SPORT, it might be difficult for Barcelona to count on Frenkie de Jong for the time being. The Dutchman has been out since April 21 when he injured his ankle after a tackle by Fede Valverde during the Clasico.
The 27-year-old opted for conservative treatment instead of going under the knife to make it in time for the Netherlands’ Euro campaign. However, Frenkie was unable to return in time after a relapse and is still recovering from the ankle issue.
Pessimism continues to grow in Barcelona as Frenkie is still suffering from pain in his ankle and the situation is worrying. The area surrounding the ankle is still very tender and there is fear that any blow or bad move could cause a relapse.
Although the €70m-rated star continues to work in a bid to strengthen his ankle, there is cause to believe that the only way the issue can be rectified once and for all is if Frenkie agrees to be operated on the injured area.
Should Frenkie go under the knife now, it means a prolonged spell on the sidelines and Barcelona will be in a fix. As things stand, the Dutchman is expected to return at the end of September after the international break, but things could change.
The important thing for Barcelona is that Frenkie recovers from his issue completely because the last thing we want is another relapse. It’s been too long without a concrete update on the 27-year-old’s situation and let’s hope we hear something from the club’s circles soon.
