Flick will audition six La Masia starlets in pre-season in search for injured Barcelona captain’s replacement | OneFootball

Frenkie de Jong’s injury has come as a massive blow to Barcelona’s plans for next season, much before the campaign even begins.

The Dutch midfielder missed a significant part of the end of the season in preparation for the World Cup, then played the final part of his nation’s campaign through pain and with painkiller injections according to reports.

As a result of the exploitation of his knee, the player has now suffered a serious setback. It is not a cruciate ligament blow, but he is expected to be out for the opening months of the season at least.

Looking for replacement talents

As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Hansi Flick is scouting through the profiles in La Masia to find an ideal replacement to fill the void left by the captain’s injury.

The pre-season will be key in his objective as the manager will call up, view first-hand, and evaluate the various candidates by essentially auditioning them.

Tommy Marques is rated highly by Flick. (Photo courtesy: X/FCBarcelona_es)

Brian Farinas, Tommy Marques, Orian Goren, Ibrahim Diarra, Guille Fernandez and Toni Fernandez are all on Flick’s list as potential replacements and will be handed a chance to make a case to be the Dutchman’s stand-in.

They all will, thus, have a significant role to play in Barcelona’s pre-season campaign and the friendly games involved.

A glance at the youngsters

Tommy Marques is already well-known as a player who plays in a style very similar to De Jong and even directly idolises the captain. He can play in central midfield and a deeper role and the manager rates him highly.

Orian Goren, meanwhile, is a 17-year-old talent who is regarded as one of La Masia’s brightest prospects. The young Israeli star is often compared to Pedri for his technical ability and brilliance.

Orian Goren in first-team training. (Picture courtesy: Instagram/@orian_goren)

Guille and Toni Fernandez, both 18 years of age, have already been involved in the first-team dynamics to varying extents. While the former is a central midfielder who can play in a deeper role, the latter is more known as an attacking midfielder.

Brian Farinas stands out as another promising option, and the club has placed his imminent departure to Girona on hold after De Jong’s injury. Flick will assess him personally in pre-season before sanctioning the departure.

Finally, Ibrahim Diarra is a dynamic, pacey midfielder with a good technical ability. He was expected to participate in last season’s pre-season but an injury ruled him out. This time, he will look to make the chance count.