Explained: Why Barcelona still don't know when Frenkie de Jong will return - despite midfielder finally returning to training

De Jong initially picked up an injury in April during Barcelona's second Clasico of the season at Santiago Bernabeu. The Dutchman was originally expected to return to action within six to eight weeks. De Jong did make the initial Netherlands squad for Euro 2024 but was ruled out and dropped by manager Ronald Koeman before the start of the tournament. Despite having now missed almost six months of action, Barcelona are still in the dark regarding his return to action as per AS.

The midfielder has returned to training with Hansi Flick's side but a return date is still unknown. His condition still remains a mystery to Barcelona as he continues to have different feelings about his injury every day and has not yet completed a full training session.

Barcelona proposed the prospect of surgery, but De Jong immediately rejected the idea and refused to go under the knife, opting for conservative treatment instead. Flick has met with the Dutchman multiple times to learn about his circumstances and is pushing for a speedy return to action.

With the Dutchman not having completed a single training session, it is possible that De Jong may not return well into next month for Barcelona and may also be left out of the next Netherlands squad for Nations League fixtures in October against Hungary and Germany.