Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman has blamed Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong’s absence ahead of Euro 2024.
The midfielder has been ruled out of the tournament with an injury and Koeman believes his situation could have been better if his club had treated the player better.
“We came to the conclusion that even in the next three weeks, De Jong will not be fully ready. He has a history of this injury. His club took risks before and now we have to pay the price. I know that he played when he was not 100% ready,” Koeman said on Monday after beating Iceland in a friendly.
De Jong was nowhere to be seen in the Netherlands squad as they dismantled Iceland 4-0 on Monday night as he looked to recover from an ankle injury that saw him play just 45 minutes across the final two months of the La Liga season.
The Dutch FA later revealed that the player lost his fitness race and will now return to Barcelona in a bid to return to action for the new season.
The comments by Koeman are expected to open a war of words between the tactician and his former employers with Barca set to give a reply in the coming days.
