Hansi Flick dealing with fresh captaincy headache at Barcelona | OneFootball

It has been around two weeks since FC Barcelona started preseason training, and Hansi Flick has already seen his team play against another side, Europa, in the first preseason game. However, his squad for the upcoming season, which is set to start in less than a month, is far from finalized.

As things stand, the Blaugranes have still not landed a replacement for Robert Lewandowski, who left the team at the end of the last season. Meanwhile, the Catalans can also be forced to make some moves to strengthen other areas of the team, like the midfield, where Frenkie de Jong’s injury has left a significant gap. Similarly, Raphinha suffered an injury during the World Cup.

On the other hand, the some exit operations are also lingering, and have not yet been completed. The most prominent of these is that of the goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, who has been linked with a loan move to Ajax for some weeks now, but this move has hit a late roadblock. Similarly, Ronald Araujo’s future at the club is not very certain.

The situations of all these players also raise doubts about the team captaincy. As Diario AS has noted, the situation of the Blaugrana team’s all five captains is leaving Hansi Flick with another headache, and there can soon be a change in this aspect.

Of the five captains, Ter Stegen, Araujo, Raphinha, De Jong, and Pedri, one is almost out of the club, one has his future quite uncertain, two are facing physical problems, and the remaining one, Pedri, is not set to join the team till 10 August. Facing this situation, it was the Danish center-back Andreas Christensen who took the armband in the first half of the game against Europa, while Ter Stegen took it for the second half.

The goalkeeper’s departure will open the door for another captain to be selected, and Hansi Flick wants academy graduates to have more roles in the team. Thus, it will not be a surprise to see one of Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, Gavi, or Lamine Yamal to become a captain of Barcelona before the start of the next season.