All eyes will be on a leading member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona, upon his impending return from injury.
That’s according to Relevo, who point towards Frenkie de Jong as the player in question.
Midfielder De Jong has for his part been forced to sit out the opening four rounds of the La Liga campaign, amid ongoing struggles with an ankle injury suffered all the way back in April.
The former Ajax standout has managed to return to the grass for individualised training drills, but has as of yet not been cleared for group activities.
As much, though, could well be forthcoming as soon as next week.
And all behind the scenes at Barcelona will at this point be holding their collective breath…
De Jong opted against undergoing surgery to resolve his ankle issue, in the hopes of recovering through physiotherapy work.
With such an approach, however, comes accompanying risks.
As per the aforementioned Relevo:
‘Specialists consulted assure that there is a risk of reinjuring himself, since the area has weakened a lot and has lost stability.’
For the sake of club and player alike, Blaugrana supporters the world over will be crossing their fingers that this does not prove to be the case.
Conor Laird | GSFN
