The futures of Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski are a topic of constant conversation in Barcelona land for different reasons. Lewandowski, despite his incredible season, will be 37 years old soon and there must be a plan in place to eventually move on from the Polish striker.
As for the Dutch captain, it is a much more complicated issue given his much-discussed salary and contract issues, and every bad performance, like the one he had at the weekend against Real Betis, only adds fuel to the fire of what already is an ugly debate around Frenkie’s future at the club.
Hansi Flick was asked about the two stars in a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the monster Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund, and was emphatic in his support of De Jong while also explaining why Lewandowski has been treated carefully by the medical team in order to maximize his impact given his age and workload.
> “For me he \[De Jong\] is a very important player. That is my opinion and I cannot control what comes from outside. He is a great professional and gives his all in training. For us he is an important player.
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> “\[On Lewandowski\] I think football is unpredictable and we can’t promise anything. Right now he’s in great shape, he’s very professional, we have to take care of him, make sure he keeps training. We do what our fitness coach tells us. We have Ter Stegen and Bernal injured, some of them have been injured since January. We need everyone available. He’s doing a good job and we have to respect the instructions of our health department.”
Having Flick’s support is very important for De Jong since Hansi’s voice has become quite influential at Barça in a short period of time, but time will tell if the bosses above the coach will decide enough is enough and end the Frenkie sage once and for all.
As for Lewandowski, I wonder if the back injury he had earlier this season is starting to bother him again, which is why he hasn’t played so many minutes in recent matches. Hopefully he fells 100% on Wednesday, because Barça will need him to continue the habit of scoring against Dortmund if the _Blaugrana_ have any chance of winning this one.