Sports News of Sunday, 12 February 2023
Source: goal.com
With Sergio Busquets injured, Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong has the next few months to prove that he deserves to stay at Camp Nou.
The tackle that injured Sergio Busquets was fairly innocuous.
Busquets tried to shrug off Sevilla's Youseff En-Nesyri, and in doing so jammed his right ankle against the Camp Nou turf. Tests later revealed that the 36-year-old defensive midfielder and club captain would be out for a few weeks with ankle ligament damage.
For the rest of the game, manager Xavi entrusted Frenkie de Jong to play in Busquets' spot, utilising him as a deep-lying midfielder. And the Dutch international was magnificent, offering every part of his Spanish counterpart's defensive acumen, while also providing the kind of metronomic, progressive passing that Barca have long coveted from the position.
It was a statement of intent, a performance that suggested that De Jong might just have found a clear role at the club he's been at since 2019. And now, with Busquets sidelined, De Jong has a chance to prove that he belongs at Barca long term, and can serve as heir apparent to the club legend.
This all seemed very unlikely last summer. The central midfielder found himself benched throughout Barcelona's preseason tour of America, while Xavi was peppered with questions every week about De Jong's future.
And for good reason. De Jong was on the brink of a move to Manchester United, with the player eager to work with former manager Erik ten Hag and the Red Devils ready to shell out €80 million (£71m/$85m) for his services.
Then came an unexpected change. De Jong pledged his future to Barcelona, declared himself a lifelong "cule", and insisted that he wanted to fight for a spot in Xavi's lineup. And in December, Barca president Joan Laporta rubbished the notion that he was ever going to sell the player, claiming that the near-completion of a massive deal was just idle gossip.
"He is one of the mainstays we have, he is one of the great young talents and called to be one of the leaders of the team," Laporta told Barca TV. "I never wanted to sell Frenkie."
The extent of the truth of Laporta's comments is largely irrelevant because De Jong has been a regular this season. He forced his way into the picture well before Busquets' injury, starting 14 of 18 La Liga contests. It's an impressive feat, especially given Xavi has four starting-level midfielders to cram into a three-man midfield.
De Jong, theoretically, is usually the man to leave out. Youngsters Gavi and Pedri are locked-in starters every game — and the stars of Barca's midfield for the foreseeable future. Busquets, although aging and flawed in transition, still offers the perfect level of defensive cover for Barca's electric midfielders to get forward.
That leaves no obvious place for De Jong. For a while, he was fortunate to see the pitch. Various knocks to central midfielders and Xavi's desire to rotate meant that he was on the field by necessity.
But now, with a long-term injury to his main competitor, De Jong has his chance. Barcelona want Busquets to stay for another year, despite the veteran's attention turning to a potential Inter Miami move. And Xavi confirmed that as long as Busquets is at Barcelona, he will be considered a first team regular. Either way, the player will need replacing at some point in the next 18 months.
Sergio Busquets made his Barcelona debut on this day in 2008, he's still going strong 14 years later ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/T5mO5Kcucp
— GOAL (@goal) September 13, 2022