Frenkie de Jong ruled out of Euro 2024 with injury

Updated: 11 Jun, 2024 • 0 • min read

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Frenkie de Jong ruled out of Euro 2024 with injury

The Netherlands faced a major setback just before the start of Euro 2024 after Frenkie de Jong was ruled out of the tournament on Monday.

De Jong featured in only 20 La Liga games for Barcelona before his season came to an end in April due to an ankle knock.

His season came to an abrupt end during the Clásico match against Real Madrid when he collided with Federico Valverde.

Despite all this, the 27-year-old was named in the Netherlands' 26-player squad for the European Championship with the expectation he would be fit enough to participate in the tournament.

There was hope he could recover in time and both de Jong and Oranje boss Ronald Koeman had spoken optimistically about the midfielder's chances of featuring in Germany.

Unfortunately, news broke on Monday night that de Jong had not recovered in time and would not be able to play in the competition.

This development led to Koeman expressing his frustration with Barcelona, accusing the club of rushing de Jong back into play too soon in April.

Speaking after a 4-0 win over Iceland, Koeman said:

We came to a conclusion that even in the next three weeks, de Jong will not be fully ready. He has a history with this injury.

His club took risks before and now we have to pay the price. I know that he played while he was not 100 percent ready.

De Jong will now return to Barcelona to continue his recovery work, whilst Koeman must decide whether he wants to call up a replacement for the former Ajax Amsterdam star.

The Netherlands kick-off their tournament against Poland on June 16, with games against France and Austria to follow in the group stage.