Frenkie de Jong is expected to make his return for the Netherlands in their Nations League clash against Hungary, but is a long way off from reaching his "peak" level.
Those were the words of Ronald Koeman, who called up the Barcelona midfielder for the first time in 14 months after his struggles with an ankle injury.
De Jong has made seven appearances for Barca in all competitions this season, but was substituted in their 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad.
The 27-year-old was replaced by Dani Olmo at half-time on Sunday after sustaining a knock, though Koeman confirmed it was not a serious issue.
"I got in touch pretty quickly. Then it became clear that it wasn't about his ankle," Koeman said.
"It was already stated somewhere that it was about his shin, so it wasn't a problem then either.
"We assume that he can play on Saturday. But it is possible that he will have to train individually tomorrow. But we will see that tomorrow."
However, Koeman said that despite his recent return to the pitch, De Jong is yet to return to being the player that helped the Netherlands finish runners-up in the 2018-19 Nations League.
"It's clear that he's been out for a long time and hasn't played a whole game yet. So yes, then you're not at your peak yet. Let's put it that way.
"But it's so important for us that he's there."
De Jong was one of three players to return to Koeman's ranks, alongside PSV Eindhoven's Noa Lang and Ajax's Devyne Rensch, but there was no place for Memphis Depay.
Depay featured in all six of the Netherlands' fixtures at Euro 2024, notching one goal and one assist in their run to the semi-finals of the competition.
The 30-year-old recently joined Brazilian outfit Corinthians and has scored three goals in 10 appearances for his new club.
However, Koeman explained the reasoning behind his omission was due to his fitness, but kept the door open for a return to the squad next year.
“Memphis is not good enough and fit enough in my opinion,” he added. "If there is one player I have regular contact with, it is Memphis. We have talked about his situation.
"If he continues like this, he will come into the picture in March. He probably finds it a shame now that he is not in the squad, and maybe he did not expect to be left out either.
"Memphis is getting fitter, that is clear. But I will decide the moment when he returns.”
The Netherlands welcome Hungary to the Johan Cruijff Arena this Saturday before facing Bosnia and Herzegovina three days later.
Koeman's side sit second in Group A3 with five points from their four games, and know that two victories will seal their progression to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Neuer and Gnabry out of Bayern's clash with Heidenheim
Manuel Neuer and Serge Gnabry will be absent when Bayern Munich take on Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who lost to Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal in midweek, were already without top scorer Harry Kane.
Now two of his team-mates have joined him on the treatment table.
Neuer, who was sent off against Leverkusen, has an issue with his ribs, while Vincent Kompany did not specify Gnabry's injury.
"Manuel Neuer has discomfort with his ribs. It also looks like Serge Gnabry won't be involved either. Aleksandar Pavlovic is available," Kompany told reporters.
"Pavlo is available. There's no limit on how long he can play. He's not played for a while, but he's available."
Kompany did, though, provide a positive update on Kane.
"Things are looking good. I don't want to give a timeline and put our medical team under pressure. It could well be that he plays again this year. But everything needs to go perfectly," Kompany said of Kane.
Bayern are firmly in control in the Bundesliga and are unbeaten after 12 games with 30 points, four more than second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
They will fancy their chances of maintaining that unbeaten streak when they take on relegation-threatened Heidenheim, who have lost their last four league games.
However, Kompany warned against complacency.
"They're playing in Europe. It's always tough to be competitive in both competitions. What Heidenheim have done over the last 20 years is good," Kompany said.
"They're a very solid club. They won't panic now. We don't differentiate in how we prepare. It'll be another important game for us."
Heidenheim won their last Bundesliga game against Bayern 3-2 – they became the first promoted team in the league's history to come from two goals down to beat the Bavarians.
No rest for influential Raphinha, says Barcelona boss Flick
Hansi Flick is unlikely to rest Raphinha for Barcelona's LaLiga match at Real Betis on Saturday.
Flick opted to rest LaLiga top-scorer Robert Lewandowski, who had started 20 straight matches in all competitions, for Barcelona's 5-1 victory at Mallorca in midweek.
Raphinha scored twice in that match, taking his tally of LaLiga goal contributions for the season to 17, a joint-league high alongside Lewandowski.
The former Leeds United attacker has been crucial to Barca's form under Flick, and the former Germany coach claimed Raphinha is a player he cannot afford to rotate.
Flick told reporters: "We need Rapha. When he is available, he will play.
"If he's ready for 90 minutes, then he'll play 90 minutes. So is Lewandowski, who will also play tomorrow."
Barca, who top the LaLiga standings with 37 points, snapped a three-game winless run in the league with the victory over Mallorca.
The Blaugrana will be looking to continue their momentum and face 10th-placed Betis, who are winless in their last four league matches.
"Betis are a very good team, with very experienced players. They are always capable of pressing high up the pitch, that's their style and we have to be careful," Flick said.
"They know how to play and we have to be focused. Manuel [Pellegrini] is a very experienced coach, his teams always play very good football.
"His style is very good, his teams like to have the ball. It's not easy for opponents to play against him."
Betis coach Pellegrini is set to take charge of his 500th game in LaLiga.
The Chilean will become the eighth coach to hit that milestone in the competition.
His teams have scored 762 goals, conceding 592. Pellegrini has won 239 matches, losing 138 and drawing 122.
Across his LaLiga coaching tenure, Pellegrini has recorded a 47.9% win ratio. His best win percentage came at Real Madrid, where he won 81.6% of his matches (31 wins out of 38 games).
However, he has lost 19 LaLiga matches against Barca, suffering more defeats against them than he has any other club.
Motta handed injury boost with Vlahovic available for Bologna clash
Dusan Vlahovic will be available for Juventus' Serie A clash against Bologna on Saturday, said Thiago Motta, before facing his former employers for the first time.
Vlahovic has missed Juventus' last three games in all competitions after picking up a muscle problem in his left thigh during November's international break.
He is Juventus' top scorer in Serie A this season with six goals, and he will be keen to add to that total against one of his favoured opponents in the Italian top-flight.
The Serbian has scored six goals against Bologna in 10 appearances for former club Fiorentina and Juventus, only scoring more against Cagliari (seven).
"Dusan will be in the group tomorrow. He has trained with the team this week," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"We are happy with his return, that he can do what he likes. It's his job to go on the pitch and play football.
"Tomorrow there will be Dusan and there will also be (midfielder Vasilije) Adzic, and (defender Nicolo) Savona will also return, who was missing from the last match."
Motta, however, will be without Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal, Nico Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz, Arkadiusz Milik and Weston McKennie for Saturday's encounter.
The Juventus head coach is preparing to face former club Bologna for the first time since departing in June.
During his first full season in charge, Motta guided Bologna to a Champions League berth for the first time since 1964-65, while also achieving a new record points tally in Serie A (68) for the Rossoblu.
"Bologna are doing well and are a great team," Motta said. "(But) we have to focus on what we have to do, and many other things that we should avoid.
"They play very vertically and press a lot. They will put a lot of intensity. In Bologna, I lived two wonderful years, both on a personal and sporting level," he added.
Juventus, however, enter the weekend in sixth position, six points off leaders Napoli, after drawing four of their last six Serie A games.
Motta has drawn 10 of his first 19 games in charge of Juventus in all competitions (W8 L1), with only Cestmir Vycpalek in 1971 (12) taking charge of fewer games to reach that total since 1929-30.
They have also struggled at the top end of the pitch, scoring once in their last three games in all competitions, something Motta acknowledged needed to improve.
"We're coming off a few games that we haven't won," Motta said. "In some we've had good performances, but we need to improve.
"We can't just focus on one phase of the game to get the result we want. Our offensive phase is everyone's responsibility, starting with our goalkeeper.
"The more we arrive with the right men up front, the more likely we are to score. At the same time, we need to defend and prevent our opponent from creating anything."
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