Frenkie de Jong admits he feared career was over after ankle injury

• Frenkie de Jong sat out for six months because of ankle injury
• 27-year-old missed Netherlands run to Euro 2024 semi-finals as a result
• Dutchman admits he wasn’t sure if he’d fully recover

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong feared he would never recover from the ankle injury that saw ruled him out of action for six months.

The 27-year-old was hurt during Barcelona’s heavyweight clash with Real Madrid in April and subsequently missed the Netherlands’ run to the semi-finals of Euro 2024 – a journey that came to a shuddering halt thanks to Ollie Watkins’ dramatic last-minute winner for England.

De Jong missed only 17 games for club and country as his injury coincided with the end of the domestic season but the nature of the problem left the Dutchman questioning whether he’d ever be able to compete again at the highest level.

“Did I wonder whether I would ever fully recover? That crossed my mind sometimes, but I always had the confidence that I would eventually be able to play football again,” De Jong told reporters while away on international duty.

“There was uncertainty about how long it would take and whether my ankle would be completely the same as it was before.”

Asked about his feeling towards missing Euro 2024, he added: “That was tough. I watched all the matches of the Dutch national team but not much of the rest. I did not want to be confronted with it every time.”

De Jong is now back in action for Barcelona, with a strong start to La Liga raising hope that the Catalan giants can reclaim the title from bitter rivals Real Madrid.

But things have changed in terms of match preparation for De Jong, who revealed the new routine he goes through in order to be ready for games.

“I spend a lot of time on my ankle,” he said. “Now, I have to take much more care of it. Before I didn’t even think about my ankle before matches, but now I get treated before training and matches. I have to put ice on it, I have to make extra preparations to train… I think this will continue to be the case for a while, I will have to pay attention to that ankle for a longer period of time.”