Barcelona manager Hansi Flick halts move for midfielder

At the end of last season it seemed clear that Barcelona would prioritise central midfield as one of their key areas to strengthen, with many feeling they were yet to address the departure of Sergio Busquets properly. The club were along the same lines of thinking, but manager Hansi Flick is not.

The German manager trusted 17-year-old Marc Bernal from the start of the season, and since his anterior cruciate ligament injury, has placed his faith in Marc Casado. Flick has halted all movements to look for a new holding midfielder, as per Sport, feeling that with Bernal they have a long-term answer to the position. For this season, Flick believes he has sufficient cover with Casado, Frenkie de Jong, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen in that position.

Sporting Director Deco looked into the signing of Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana before he joined the Villains, and Arsenal’s Mikel Merino, but they were without sufficient funds. The Portuguese is also keen on Carney Chukwuemeka and Romeo Lavia at Chelsea, who he had considered for potential loan moves, but it looks like they will not make any moves in that position.

Certainly it is a remarkable show of faith in Bernal, who played just a handful of senior games, and even Casado. The latter’s sample size is much larger, but the club saw him as potentially expendable at the beginning of the summer too. With Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo returning to fitness, it will be interesting to see if he holds onto his spot in the coming weeks.