Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong sent home from Netherlands duty

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong returned to action for the Netherlands for the first time in a year on Saturday after missing a number of call-ups due to injury. However, he admitted his physical problems still bothered him at times and was left out by Ronald Koeman for their second game of the international break.

De Jong played 68 minutes in their 4-0 win over Hungary in Amsterdam before being replaced by Teun Koopmeiners. Koeman has decided to rest both De Jong and Virgil van Dijk for their second Nations League match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, releasing both from international duty. As reported by MD, De Jong will return to Barcelona early on a week's rest before taking on Celta Vigo in Balaidos.

The 27-year-old has had a difficult year at Barcelona and looks set to struggle to regain his starting spot, with Pedri and Marc Casado playing well ahead of him. However, it could benefit him if he did not return straight to the starting line-up every week, as his ankle injury has kept him out for five months and has had several setbacks.