Paris Olympics: Barcelona need to be cautious with La Masia-grown midfielder | OneFootball

Fermin Lopez was a notable exclusion from Barcelona’s squad for the upcoming pre-season tour to the United States.

The Spaniard was omitted as he is representing Spain in the ongoing Paris Olympics. While Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi are also a part of the team, what sets Fermin apart is that he has featured in both Euro 2024 and the Olympics.

In fact, Fermin and Alex Baena are too such players, who have participated in both tournaments this summer. And as Spain goes for gold, there are warning signs creeping in.

Fermin Lopez showing signs of fatigue

Thanks to a win over the Dominican Republic, Spain secured passage from the group stage and qualified for the quarterfinals in the Olympics.

Fermin was one of the top performers as Spain secured a comfortable 3-1 victory, with the Barcelona star notably scoring the opener.

Fermin Lopez scored against the Dominican Republic (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

However, there were signs of mental and physical fatigue visible in Fermin’s performances, even as the player finished the game as one of the best performers.

While Fermin is nowhere close to playing as much as Pedri did back in 2021, the Spaniard has been involved in either training or matches for the past year.

Fermin has barely had any respite, and this is seemingly visible in the ongoing Olympics. In fact, his teammate Alex Baena, shortly after the win over the Dominican Republic, confirmed there is fatigue creeping in.

“Maybe we are a bit tired mentally after the whole season, but I think we need to put in the effort, using whatever energy we have left, to help the team here,” Baena said (h/t FIFA).

That said, both Fermin and Baena believe they can pull through the fatigue to help Spain secure a gold medal in the Paris Olympics.

However, given the sheer amount of game-time Fermin has had in the past year or so, Barcelona must proceed with caution once the Spaniard returns to Catalonia ahead of the new season.