This summer, however, tensions have risen again.<\/p>\n
There have been questions about how De Jong\u2019s fitness was managed with the Netherlands at the World Cup, frustration over the 29-year-old\u2019s latest knee injury and disagreement on how that should be dealt with.<\/p>\n
In an emotionally charged interview with club media on Friday, the Dutchman responded to this by taking aim at \u201cdamaging\u201d and \u201cfalse\u201d media reports about his physical condition, attitude and relationship with Flick \u2014 strongly denying that he refused to play in last season\u2019s Champions League quarter-final second leg with Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n
Here, in an article informed by conversations with multiple sources \u2014 all of whom asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships \u2014 The Athletic explains why there is so much noise around De Jong right now.<\/p>\n
Why is there so much focus on De Jong?<\/p>\n
The main factor is the knee injury he suffered at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
De Jong picked up that issue during a training session during the tournament and played through pain in the Netherlands\u2019 round-of-32 tie against Morocco, in which the Dutch were eliminated on penalties.<\/p>\n
In his interview with Barca\u2019s in-house media on Friday, De Jong said initial assessments during the World Cup showed signs of \u201ca small problem\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"De](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2283441421-scaled.jpg\")
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\n The Netherlands were knocked out of the World Cup after losing to Morocco on penalties (Alfredo Estrella\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cEveryone knew about it. They said I could continue playing. I also asked about it and they assured me that it couldn\u2019t get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
When De Jong returned to Barcelona on July 13, he reported that he was still feeling pain. Further examination revealed a more serious injury than was initially thought: a tear to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.<\/p>\n
Sources say Barcelona believed surgery offered a quicker route back to full fitness \u2014 but that De Jong ruled it out. He is instead now following a conservative treatment plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now I\u2019m doing work with the physical therapists,\u201d De Jong said in his interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve made a plan which everyone knows about and everyone agrees with.\u201d<\/p>\n
How has this led to new tension?\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to dressing-room sources, Flick was frustrated by De Jong playing through injury at the World Cup.<\/p>\n
The German\u2019s view, according to those voices, was that it would never have been allowed to happen at Barcelona. There was frustration at the Netherlands for allowing De Jong to play. The Athletic approached the Dutch FA for comment.<\/p>\n
Barca sources also have doubts over the results of De Jong\u2019s conservative treatment plan so far. Their expectation at the moment is for De Jong to be back fit again around November, but this would depend on how his recovery progresses.<\/p>\n
De Jong also missed a key run of Barca fixtures last season after suffering a hamstring problem in February.<\/a> He was absent for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Atletico, and only played the last 10 minutes of the return game in the Spanish capital, with Diego Simeone\u2019s side progressing 3-2 on aggregate.<\/p>\n \n De Jong watches on from the Barcelona bench on his return from hamstring injury in April (Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n In his interview with Barcelona on Friday, De Jong strongly denied recent media reports that said he had refused to play in that second leg.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s false, it\u2019s simply not true,\u201d De Jong said. \u201cMy dream is to play for Bar\u00e7a and, above all, in the big Champions League matches. Everyone wants to play in those matches. I don\u2019t understand how anyone could say that I refused.<\/p>\n \u201cI see things like that, and I get angry and irritated.\u00a0If people get angry and if that\u2019s the only information they have, I understand them. That\u2019s why I\u2019m explaining it.\u201d<\/p>\n That Atletico match was on April 14. De Jong\u2019s fitness was carefully managed as the season came to an end \u2014 with the player only making six further substitute appearances, including the 2-0 win over Real Madrid on May 10 that sealed their La Liga title. He was absent from two other games.<\/p>\n By the time of the World Cup, he was deemed fit enough to start each of the Netherlands\u2019 four matches.<\/p>\n There was a belief within Barca\u2019s first-team unit that De Jong was more focused on playing at that tournament than finishing the domestic campaign last term. The Athletic put this point to a figure close to De Jong, who said the player\u2019s position was reflected in his interview with Barca on Friday.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the history here?<\/p>\n The peak of tensions between Barca and De Jong came in 2023.<\/p>\n![\"De](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2270874828-scaled.jpg\")
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