A new season is upon us Barca fans.
For the die-hards, the preseason is one of the most exciting times of the year where you get a glimpse into the future. Who are Barcelona’s next likely breakout stars? What new ideas are up the manager’s sleeve?
The new campaign will mark the release of Hansi Flick 3.0 at Barcelona.
This time he’s been backed by Deco and Joan Laporta, but what will he do with his new resources? Are more trophies on the horizon?
Here are a few of my observations from the summer of 2026
in Barcelona.
Hamza Abdelkarim takes his chance
Hamza’s name has been hovering around for a while now.
From the beginning, as is usually the case in the Spanish press, he was enthusiastically marketed as the next big thing. Could this be the heir apparent to Robert Lewandowski?
Well, Lewandowski is officially gone, and Ferran Torres followed shortly after.
Surprisingly, Hamza was given a prominent role to play for Egypt at the World Cup, and just like that, all of a sudden, the opportunity of a lifetime appeared.
It helped that Barcelona struggled to sign a new center-forward, with Atletico Madrid in particular playing hardball with Julián Alvarez.
Hansi Flick gave Hamza total trust, and as a result, the Egyptian scored and never stopped scoring, and he did it in a variety of ways through raw talent as well as industry.
Expect to see more of Hamza this season with the first team.
Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi give Barcelona much-needed depth on the wing
We saw a lot of Karim Adeyemi in the summer games, less of Anthony Gordon.
Both in my eyes are already inspiring confidence that they will do exactly what they were brought in for. On both sides of the ball, they will work hard and make an impact.
We expected Barcelona to sign a striker this summer. Instead we got two wingers, three if you include Jesse Bisiwu.
In a way, that’s looking like a wise move.
Raphinha and Lamine Yamal need to be rotated this season. Both picked up costly injuries in the last campaign and that can’t happen again if Barcelona want to achieve their goals.
Both Gordon and Adeyemi are a better fit for Flick’s system than Marcus Rashford, so I’d expect to see a lot of them, and maybe just a lot of rotation in general across the forward line.
That could make all the difference across the long marathon of a season.
Eric García may become more than just a utility man
It seems like full-backs aren’t appreciated like they used to be.
Apparently when you have a great player, but can’t find a place for them anywhere else on the field, you just throw them in to defend and maraud down the flank.
Jules Kounde inherited the right full-back position, although he’s a center-back by trade.
Now he could be moving back to his original position, while Eric García, also a center-back by trade, takes over in his place.
Who knows exactly what will stick, but Hansi Flick is experimenting, and one thing that is certain, he trusts Eric and wants him on the field.
In addition to that, very logically, Eric is now a team captain. He really is a player who has thrived in Flick’s system.
Xavi Espart is Barcelona’s new Swiss Army Knife
Could Xavi Espart be the next Eric García?
Don’t expect to see flair from the academy product. Instead, you’ll find the qualities that really matter, and allow you to break into Barcelona, and stay there.
Espart has the intelligence and versatility that make him indispensable to a manager who has limited space on his roster.
He’s just 19, but has the calm and composure of a 30-year-old veteran. Compare him to the other Barca boys who made their debuts this summer, and to me the biggest difference is an “act like you’ve been there before” type of energy.
He’s not desperate. He plays like he knows he already belongs.
Along with Hamza, Xavi Espart is the other academy player who looks destined for a role on the first team.
Barcelona are gambling in their two areas of highest need
With all that being said, at the beginning of the summer, most people assessed that Barcelona’s greatest areas of need were in the center-forward and center-back positions.
The math shows two strikers out, and zero in.
It also shows one center-back (Ronald Araujo) out, and zero in.
It’s very likely that one last signing is around the corner, but it may not be the dream of Julián Alvarez that Barcelona have been holding out for.
Has the gamble been worth it? Only time will tell, but Flick needs to know, within reason, which player is going to be getting him the goals.
It’s great that he has confidence in Hamza and Álvaro Cortés as new depth options. It may also be the case that he believes Andreas Christensen is ready for a big comeback season, and that he is truly comfortable with Gerard Martín as a first choice option.
I have total belief in the team that’s being built, but if goals are harder to come by than expected, and if Barcelona has any defensive struggles, finger pointing will be inevitable.
At the end of day, the x-factor is Hansi Flick.
With him at the helm, the Barca faithful have plenty of reason to feel bullish that more trophies are coming their way. As always, it going to be one heck of a ride.
