Frenkie de Jong did not play a single minute for Barcelona against Sevilla on Sunday which has led to speculation about why he remained on the bench.
Hansi Flick said before the game that the Dutchman was a doubt after feeling some discomfort before the match but then said afterwards “he could have played.”
RAC1 are now reporting that “there was something about De Jong that Flick didn’t like” and that’s why the midfielder did not feature at all despite warming up in the second half.
The suggestion is that is was an attitude issue and that Flick was sending a warning to De Jong by not using him and sending on Gavi, Pablo Torre and Fermin Lopez instead
This is not the first time this season that we’ve seen a report about Flick apparently laying down the law to his players.