FC Barcelona are set to open their 2026‑27 preseason on Monday, July 13th, with Hansi Flick expected to return to Ciutat Esportiva this Thursday ahead of welcoming his players back – and with the majority of the first-team squad still active at the World Cup, the German will lean heavily on La Masia and the reserve side to fill out his initial training group.
Barca News Network has reported, citing Mundo Deportivo, that Flick may call up as many as ten youth and reserve team players to make the numbers workable from day one. As things stand, only eight senior contracted players are available at the start of camp: Wojciech Szczesny, Gerard Martín, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde, Héctor Fort, Marc Bernal, Marc Casadó, and Roony Bardghji.
Eight members of the squad are still competing with Spain at the World Cup, with one each representing France and England. Ronald Araujo, Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, and new signing Hamza Abdelkarim have already been eliminated from the tournament and are on holiday, while Fermín López – back at Ciutat Esportiva – continues his recovery from injury. Marc-André ter Stegen’s future at the club also remains unresolved.
The players reported as most likely to receive call-ups from the youth teams are Iker Rodríguez, Baba Kouruma, Ebrima Tunkara – whose contract includes a €20 million release clause – and Orien Goren. From Barça Atlètic, the list extends to Álex González, Shane Kluivert, Xavi Espart, Tommy Marqués, Toni Fernández, Jofre Torrents, Landry Farré, Álvaro Cortés, and Óscar Gistau.
The pattern is consistent with how Flick has approached previous pre-seasons. Academy call-ups into first-team training sessions have become a reliable feature of his tenure, with the opening Ciutat Esportiva phase functioning as an evaluation window before squads are trimmed ahead of overseas friendlies. Casadó and Bernal are the clearest examples of players who converted preseason exposure into permanent first-team integration.
Abdelkarim is also expected to train with the first team during preseason, though the club plans to grant him a short break following Egypt’s World Cup exit on Tuesday. Barcelona’s post-season planning had already factored in a staggered return for players coming off international duty, making the academy reinforcements a practical necessity rather than a gesture of goodwill toward La Masia.
