‘I don’t even know if he can play 90 mins’

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has offered an update on Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong and says he’s not sure how much game time he’ll see over the international break. De Jong is back with the Dutch squad for the first time in 14 months for Nations League fixtures against Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yet Koeman says he does not know yet if he’s ready to play a full 90 minutes after a long spell out with an ankle injury.

“I don’t even know if he can play 90 minutes in one match,” he told a press conference. “Frenkie spoke about it with his coach Hansi Flick at Barcelona, and I spoke to Frenkie about it again. “He can still make a difference with his way of playing, because he is a complete midfielder, but we have to wait and see how quickly he can get back to his own level.

We play first on Saturday and then we will see.” De Jong hasn’t completed a match for Barcelona since his return. He’s made seven appearances so far, starting only two games.

.