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A shocking scenario: the Rodri deal puts Barcelona star in trouble

Rodri is on his way. Spain's Manchester City star arrives at Barcelona and throws open an unexpected scenario in the club's midfield.

Only a few days ago, Hansi Flick had insisted that signing a player in this position was not a priority. Barcelona, though, view Rodri's arrival as a strategic deal.

Two factors pushed the club towards the decision. Marc Casadó looks set for an imminent departure, and the knee injury Frenkie de Jong sustained will leave the Dutchman in a very complicated position.

According to a report in "Sport", De Jong could be the biggest loser from Rodri's arrival, in the short and medium term.

He may now find himself without a place in the starting line-up. His future has become completely up in the air.

AFP
De Jong injury sparks anger at Barcelona and Flick
Barcelona's pre-season plans unravelled the moment De Jong reported back. The midfielder turned up at the sporting city nursing a knee injury he had picked up on holiday.
That sparked fury inside the Barcelona hierarchy, and Flick in particular. He simply could not fathom how the player had come through the closing minutes of the World Cup carrying a problem of this kind.
Anger flowed towards the Netherlands national team and towards the player himself. Worse still, Barcelona now faced a major setback, stripped of their clear first-choice midfielder.
The medical staff diagnosed a tear in the medial collateral ligament of the right knee. Barça initially leaned towards surgery to fix the problem, with an expected absence of four months.
In the end they opted for conservative treatment lasting around two months, the course the player is currently following.
Whether the knee will settle this way, nobody can say. Should the problem persist, the Dutchman will have no choice but to go under the knife. And that is where a fresh problem could emerge.

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De Jong's absence frees up space under the wage ceiling
Barcelona will respect the medical assessments and De Jong's feelings and condition, but no one is hiding the fact that the club may be interested in carrying out the surgery if the recovery process does not go in the right direction. The reason is simple: it could place De Jong on the long-term absentee list, freeing up space in the salary cap to register players.
Several deals are already done, the investment significant. Barcelona will need to clear room in the wage bill.
All of this becomes even more pressing if they end up signing a striker of Julian Alvarez's calibre. Nobody has discussed that yet, but it could surface at any moment.
Surgery or no surgery, De Jong will not start the Spanish league campaign with Barcelona. Rodri, by contrast, arrives in full readiness. His minor surgical procedure on his back does not require a significant period of absence.
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There will be no place for De Jong in Barcelona's line-up
The Manchester City midfielder will arrive at Barcelona to be a key player, filling a role the Dutchman knows well.
Pedri looks nailed on for another starting spot. Flick tends to complete his midfield with a more attack-minded third man, someone like Dani Olmo or Fermín López.
Then there's the traffic jam. Marc Bernal, one of the club's bright hopes until now, plays the same position as Rodri, and Gavi can operate there too. That leaves no room for De Jong.
Where does this leave things? De Jong's salary is high, and if the minutes dry up, the situation could quickly become unsustainable.