Barcelona’s 15-year-old wonderkid among Hansi Flick’s surprise call-ups for pre-season

Barcelona officially began a new era today as Hansi Flick started the team’s pre-season preparations at the club’s training facilities ahead of the new season.

Given that there were a number of first-team players currently unavailable, it was always expected that the German manager would be calling up several young talents from the academy and reserve ranks.

Toni Fernandez among surprise call-ups

Mundo Deportivo reports that there were a few unexpected call-ups made by Hansi Flick for the start of the pre-season, one of whom happens to be 15-year-old striker Toni Fernandez.

A gifted young forward, the teenage La Masia prospect recently agreed a new contract with the club. While it was expected that he might get opportunities with Barça Atletic, Flick has decided to test him out with the senior team.

Fellow teenager Guille Fernandez, the cousin of Toni, also finds himself in the first-team pre-season on the opening day. The midfield prodigy, who played a few games for the reserve team last season, is viewed as the next big breakout talent from La Masia.

Another surprise inclusion comes in the form of defender Andres Cuenca. The 17-year-old centre-half is a player that seems to have caught Flick’s attention who now wishes to take a closer look at him.

Other youngsters from the youth and reserve teams present are Marc Casado, Marc Bernal, Mika Faye, Hector Fort, Unai Hernandez, Ander Astralaga, Gerard Martin, Angel Alarcon, Aleix Garrido, and Noah Darvich.

What about the first-team stars?

As far as the first-team players are concerned, stars who are not away on international duty were all present, with Inigo Martinez, Oriol Romeu, Inaki Pena, Oriol Romeu, and Vitor Roque showing up.

The trio of Alejandro Balde, Gavi, and Frenkie de Jong, still recovering from their injuries are also at the club facilities.

Meanwhile, the returning loanees – Ansu Fati, Clement Lenglet, Julian Araujo, Alex Valle, and Pablo Torre also showed up.

The players will be undergoing medical and physical examinations during the day before Flick convenes them for training later in the evening.