Hansi Flick Faces Selection Puzzle as Barcelona Pre-Season Begins
Hansi Flick begins his third season at FC Barcelona with a squad divided by the World Cup, a new group of La Masia hopefuls, and an attack learning to live without Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona returns to work on 13 July for the customary medical examinations and physical tests, beginning a pre-season that will later take them to St George’s Park in England. However, the group of players that walks through the training-ground doors will bear little resemblance to the one expected to begin the competitive season.
Some of Barcelona’s most important footballers are still chasing the World Cup. Others have only just arrived back from it and are currently on holiday. Several academy players, meanwhile, are about to discover that this pre-season is going to be more than just making up the numbers for them.
The first weeks will not reveal the finished version of Flick’s third Barcelona. They may, however, provide early indications of the blueprint.
Flick will manage a pre-season moving at two different speeds
Barcelona’s summer begins with one team in Catalonia and another scattered across North America. Sixteen Barça players originally travelled to the World Cup. Eight members of Spain’s squad have now reached the semi-finals, where they will face France, who have Jules Kounde.
Barcelona still have a number of players at the World Cup. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Anthony Gordon’s England, meanwhile, are due to meet Norway in their quarter-final on 11 July, where the Three Lions are likely to progress. The club have already confirmed that their World Cup representatives will not return for the beginning of pre-season. For those who reach the final on 19 July, the gap between international duty and Barcelona’s competitive campaign could become particularly narrow.
Flick is therefore preparing two different teams. One group will spend the second half of July rebuilding its physical base, absorbing the staff’s instructions and competing for places in the team. The other will eventually return with match rhythm already in its legs, but with a month of high-pressure tournament football in its body and mind.
Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Kounde are not merely members of the squad, they are some of Flick’s first names on the team sheet. Rushing them back would be reckless, but allowing them too much time away could leave Barcelona underprepared for the beginning of the season. Flick must gradually bring together players who have trained for several weeks with those who have barely stopped competing. This pre-season is less about tactics and results and more about the physical readiness of players ahead of what is set to be yet another gruelling season.
La Masia’s golden opportunity
The absence of so many senior players creates an obvious problem for the coaching staff, but it also creates the summer’s greatest opportunity. Flick may initially have only a small collection of established first-team players available. Marc Bernal, Marc Casado, Alejandro Balde, Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin, Hector Fort, Wojciech Szczesny and Roony Bardghji are among those expected to be ready right away.
Ebrima Tunkara will be one to watch out for in pre-season. (Picture credit: Instagram/@ebrimatunkara10)
Some of the players on the list do not have assured futures at the club and could leave this summer in search of game time. Thus, Flick will have to turn to La Masia to make up the numbers on the training pitch. Baba Kourouma, Ebrima Tunkara, Orian Goren, Alex Gonzalez, Hamza Abdelkarim, Shane Kluivert, Xavi Espart, Tommy Marques, Landry Farre, Alvaro Cortes and Oscar Gistau are all expected to be involved in the first-team scheme of things. The likes of Guille and Toni Fernandez could also get an opportunity.
Flick has not hidden his interest, having stated he wanted to see “new faces” during pre-season. With thirteen La Masia players having made their senior debuts during his tenure, these youngsters receive a massive confidence boost. Ebrima Tunkara is the name every Barcelona fan is excited to see in action during pre-season, given the reputation that surrounds him.
The post-Lewandowski attack begins to take shape
For four seasons, Barcelona relied on Robert Lewandowski as the leader of their attack. He leaves the club after scoring 120 goals, removing the squad’s only established specialist centre-forward. Barcelona has responded by adding speed, intensity and verticality rather than immediately replacing his profile.
Anthony Gordon has joined from Newcastle United. The England international scored 17 goals last season and arrives as a direct, relentless winger whose style suits Flick’s demands. However, his involvement at the World Cup means Flick must wait to integrate him.
Adeyemi could join pre-season training next week. (Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
Karim Adeyemi is also expected to add an explosive profile to the forward line. Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund reached an agreement worth an initial €22 million plus performance-related add-ons. The German forward offers the speed in transition and aggressive movement that Flick values.
Neither Gordon nor Adeyemi is a conventional Lewandowski replacement. With Lamine on the right, Gordon on the left, and Adeyemi moving across the attacking line, Barcelona could become more fluid and less dependent on a single penalty-box reference. While they may miss Lewandowski’s hold-up play, Flick should be confident of solving the problem using a combination of Lamine, Raphinha, Adeyemi, Gordon, Ferran—if he stays amid PSG pushing to try and sign him—and potentially Julian Alvarez if he arrives.