Another injured Barcelona star returns to group training | OneFootball

A leading member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona on Monday secured a return to first-team training.

The player in question? Frenkie de Jong.

Dutch international De Jong has for his part not taken to the pitch in Barcelona colours since all the way back in April, owing to an ankle injury.

The former Ajax standout was expected to be fit and available for the start of the new campaign, only for a lack of progress in his recovery to put a firm end to such hopes.

The last couple of weeks, though, have seen De Jong take significant steps towards a return to the pitch.

And, as alluded to above, on Monday, the 27-year-old’s comeback moved yet another major step closer to coming to fruition.

As revealed in a post across Barcelona’s official social media platforms, De Jong joined the rest of Hansi Flick’s squad in group training this morning.

His participation was described as partial, but, with Ansu Fati, Gavi and Fermín López inching towards respective returns, news of De Jong’s progress will come as yet further music to the ears of the Barca faithful.

Conor Laird | GSFN