Criticism after Barça debut: Flick sees room for improvement in Adeyemi | OneFootball

Karim Adeyemi has played his first match for FC Barcelona and immediately received a clear message from his new coach. After the performance of the former BVB forward, Hansi Flick spoke openly and believes there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Adeyemi was on the pitch for the first 45 minutes in the Catalans’ 2-2 draw against English second-division side Birmingham City before making way at halftime for Swedish youngster Roony Bardghji. There were some promising signs from the new signing, but not much more.

For Flick, the debut was reason enough to choose clear words. “He has much more potential than he showed. I’ve already seen a better Karim in training,” the head coach said after the match. “A lot of things” in the forward’s game “were not so good.”

Flick stresses the potential despite the criticism

However, Flick did not leave his assessment without context. “But it’s only his first week of training, so that’s normal. His speed and finishing quality are good, he has a lot of potential. And I also think he can give us a lot,” the coach explained. So he paired the critical tone with a clear sense of perspective.

Photo: IMAGO

Barcelona only officially announced the signing of the 24-year-old a few days ago. According to various reports, BVB will receive a reported fixed fee of 22 million euros plus up to seven million euros in bonuses, while Adeyemi signed a contract until 2031. However, it was another debutant who emerged as the match-winner against Birmingham: 18-year-old Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim scored twice.

At BVB, much recently revolved around the attack

For BVB, Adeyemi’s departure is a noticeable blow to the attack — an area where there has already been plenty of movement in Dortmund recently. The club continued working on additional attacking options over the summer, with Jadon Sancho’s name once again coming up. Fabio Silva, who joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2025 for more than 20 million euros, is also under pressure after an inconsistent first season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.