Frenkie de Jong's Future at Barcelona: Is This His Last Season?

Frenkie de Jong’s future at Barcelona is back under the microscope, with growing noise in the Netherlands that this could be his final season in Catalonia.

Dutch journalist Valentijn Driessen believes the landscape around the midfielder has shifted decisively. The arrival of Rodri, the weight of De Jong’s injury record and the demands of a new coach have combined to cast doubt over a career plan the Dutchman once hoped would be straightforward: arrive at Barça, stay for life.

Rodri’s arrival changes the midfield equation

Barcelona have not just signed another midfielder. They have brought in one of the most authoritative holding players in world football, a Spain international expected to become a cornerstone of Hansi Flick’s structure.

That move inevitably shines a harsher light on De Jong’s status.

“He has been injured a lot; they already tried to get rid of him before, and now they bring Rodri,” Driessen said on De Telegraaf’s podcast, as relayed by SPORT. For him, the pattern is clear. “I don’t think that now that he’s injured they’re trying to transfer him – I can’t imagine it – but I do think he’s in his last season at Barça.”

Barcelona have previously explored ways to move De Jong on, largely for financial reasons. He resisted, reiterated his desire to stay and publicly spoke of finishing his career at the club. That dream, Driessen argues, no longer fits the reality of a squad being reshaped around Flick and a new midfield axis.

“He wanted to stay at Barcelona until the end of his career, but that’s a privilege granted to very few players,” Driessen said. “He’s not the sort of player you’d think would remain a first-team regular at Barcelona until he’s 35. In short, he won’t see out the end of his career there.”

Can De Jong and Rodri really coexist?

The key tactical question sits at the heart of the debate: is there room for both De Jong and Rodri in the same starting XI on a regular basis?

Driessen is sceptical.

“You always have to perform to keep playing. If an excellent player comes in who plays in your position, I can’t imagine those two playing together,” he argued.

De Jong has built his reputation on dictating tempo from deep, gliding through pressure and linking phases of play from the back line into midfield. Rodri thrives in those same zones, anchoring possession, screening the defence and setting the rhythm.

Something has to give.

Driessen does not see Rodri’s signing as a trigger for an immediate sale while De Jong is sidelined. Barcelona, he suggests, are not trying to move him on in the middle of an injury. But he does see the Spaniard’s presence as a slow, steady force that could erode De Jong’s central importance over time.

A tactical reinvention – or a parting of ways?

If De Jong wants to share the pitch with Rodri, Driessen believes the Dutchman will have to reinvent himself higher up the field.

The 27-year-old has never been a pure No. 10. His game is about control, not chaos; progression, not final blows. Yet to coexist with Rodri, he may be pushed into a more advanced, attacking role.

“He might be able to try, but he needs to be more attacking, and that’s usually the point of criticism: that he lacks that. He’s never managed it,” Driessen said.

That challenge drops directly onto Flick’s desk. The German coach inherits a midfield full of profiles: technicians, runners, holders, creators. How he arranges them once De Jong returns from injury will dictate not just minutes, but status.

There is no guarantee Rodri’s arrival automatically forces De Jong out of the XI. Form, fitness, and tactical tweaks will all play their part. But the comfort blanket has gone. Competition is sharper, the margin for error thinner, and the notion of a guaranteed long-term role at Barcelona feels more fragile than ever.

If this is indeed De Jong’s last season at the club, the next few months will decide how he leaves: as a midfielder who adapted and fought his way back to the centre of the project, or as the first big casualty of a new era built around Rodri.