Flick’s plan to gradually incorporate La Masia standouts into the Barcelona first team | OneFootball

The jump from La Masia to the first team of Barcelona was relatively straightforward for top young talents in recent years, but was also helped by the fact that those who were picked were the crème de la crème of the academy’s names.

The likes of Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, and Marc Bernal all made their way into the senior setup relatively easily, and rightfully so given that they were all the highest-rated names in their respective position in La Masia.

The process this season has become significantly more complicated for players aspiring to make the same jump, and SPORT relays that Hansi Flick has good reason to be tightening the screws.

Flick’s strategy with La Masia talents

As brought forward by the outlet, Flick has given the likes of Toni Fernandez, Guille Fernandez, Dro, Jofre Torrents, and Diego Kochen regular call-ups to the first-team squad, but has not handed them many minutes even as substitutes.

The reason behind the same is that Flick, despite believing in them and caring for them, wants them to be physically prepared to handle the demands of top-tier football – something that is understandably at a far higher level than the subsidiary divisions.

Dro made his first-team debut for Barcelona this season. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Flick’s idea is to incorporate the players when they are ready for the high demand of professional football, and the German is thus demanding a lot from them in a physical and tactical sense.

The likes of Toni, Dro, Torrents, and others are well aware of the manager’s plan and are willing to put in all the hard work needed to reach the required level.

Needless to say, figures including Bojan Krkic, Arnau Blanco, and Thiago Alcantara are helping them in the process.

So far this season, Dro has seen 45 official minutes with the first team, and Torrents has seen 38 minutes. The others, however, are yet to make their official debuts, but that might change soon.