Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has improved the team by leaps and bounds compared to where they were last year, and although Real Madrid have cut their lead at the top of the table after the Blaugrana dropped points in four recent matches, the Catalan giants remain in the driver’s seat in LaLiga.
Down the stretch of the regular season, Barcelona will need some key contributors to step up and give the club more options, especially if the injury bug bites again.
One player to watch closely is center midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who is one of the highest-paid players on the team with wages approaching 20 million euros. That’s significantly less than the eye-watering 37 million euros thrown around by the Spanish media last summer, but it is still a lot of money for a No. 8 who has only put together one truly remarkable season in Blaugrana colors.
Barcelona have started De Jong just once this season, but there are signs that the Dutchman could play a bigger role for Flick as part of a deep group of 8’s and 10’s in Catalunya.
De Jong didn’t play his first game for Flick in LaLiga until October and hasn’t played more than 46 minutes in a match, starting in a 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad on Nov. 11 before the international fixtures began.
The 27-year-old could be on the outs if Barcelona show serious interest in reuniting Flick with Joshua Kimmich in midfield, but on paper, De Jong has all the traits Flick is looking for in a progressive midfielder.
After all, before injuries bit in the 2023/24 season, De Jong was one of the big comeback players in European football in 2022/23, breaking out for his best year with the Blaugrana and playing at arguably a higher level than any other LaLiga midfielder as Barca pretty much ran away with the title.
That skill-set still exists. De Jong is an intelligent midfielder who is almost impossible to dispossess when he’s in the mood, and he makes wise passes to keep play flowing forward for the wingers and attacking midfielders.
Defensively, De Jong has the work rate to make sufficient recoveries defensively to be an asset when Barcelona are off the ball. Playing time is hard to come by in Barca right now, but that could change with De Jong working his way back to fitness after an injury return two months ago.
Flick got a great season out of Leon Goretzka in 2019/20 when Bayern Munich won the treble. De Jong isn’t the athlete Goretzka is, but he’s a much smarter and more technical player with better qualities as a 6/8 in the Barcelona system.
Look for him to play a bigger role in Barca’s success as the season continues. Flick pushed for De Jong to stay this summer and continues to do so now, indicating that there is indeed a plan for the Dutch midfielder in 2024/25.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.