Xavi Hernández and Nigel de Jong were on opposite sides of the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa, the one Spain won. On Monday they met again at the KNVB campus in Zeist, where Xavi’s Netherlands first day began. The former Barça coach started work as head coach of the Oranje and, by Mundo Deportivo’s account, had a cordial reunion with De Jong — these days the federation’s elite football director.
It was, the paper reports, a warm welcome. But Xavi’s Netherlands first day carried a piece of unfinished Barça business with it, because the midfielder who should be the spine of his new team is a Blaugrana who cannot get fit — and, according to SPORT, the new Oranje boss is worried about him.
Xavi’s Netherlands first day: a Barça succession at Zeist
Xavi is 46, and this is his first job on a national-team bench. He takes over from Ronald Koeman, which means the Netherlands have now handed the job from one Camp Nou figure straight to another. Before his formal presentation to the media, set for today, he was shown round the facilities and held his first working meetings with a staff that mixes his own people with Dutch football’s own: his brother Óscar Hernández, Sergio Alegre and Iván Torres alongside Ruud van Nistelrooy, Adil Ramzi and goalkeeping coach Patrick Lodewijks.
The competitive part starts on 24 September, when Xavi’s Netherlands face Germany at the Johan Cruijff Arena in the opening game of a demanding UEFA Nations League group. For Culers there is something neat about the venue and the name above the door — and something uncomfortable about the team sheet he inherits.
The Frenkie de Jong problem Xavi inherits
Frenkie de Jong has not played since the World Cup, where the injury began. He was diagnosed with a problem during the tournament, was told it was minor and played on through the discomfort; by the time he got back to Catalonia his condition was poor. He has since been ruled out for the opening months of the season. Barça Universal, relaying a SPORT report, say Xavi is deeply concerned about both the situation and the pace of the recovery.
The detail underneath is the worrying part. The right knee ligament problem is being managed conservatively, there is no known return date, and the condition is not improving as expected. If that continues, SPORT report, surgery becomes a real option — and it would sideline him for a much longer period than the plan he chose. We covered the first version of that decision when De Jong turned the operation down; the player, per the same report, still believes conservative treatment will be enough.
What that means for Xavi is simple arithmetic. Barça Universal put it plainly: it is close to impossible that De Jong will be fit for the September international break, which is to say Xavi’s own debut.
Barça’s side of the same problem
The club’s stake in this is not sentimental. While De Jong has been out, Barcelona have signed Rodri from Manchester City on a deal to 2030 and given him the No 16 shirt. Barça Universal’s reading is that Rodri now occupies the role De Jong left behind, and that the Dutchman will not find it easy to win the place back.
There is a transfer dimension too. Barça Universal reported on Monday that the club are believed to be open to listening if the right proposal arrives, after Manchester City made an enquiry — though Matteo Moretto said on 22 August that De Jong is not leaving this summer. An operation now, Barça Universal note, would likely cost him most of the season and take a January move off the table too.
So Xavi begins with a warm reception, a staff full of familiar faces and Germany already circled. And in Barcelona, a midfielder he once built a team around is rehabbing a knee that is not responding, with a club and a country waiting on the same answer. Barça are back on Thursday against Athletic Club at the Spotify Camp Nou. De Jong will be watching that one too.
