It is quite common for FC Barcelona to always have competition within its squad. Without such competition, it would become nearly impossible for the Catalan giants to compete against the best of the best. With each Barcelona player striving to earn the right to represent the club, that is how the very best players are often discovered.
However, competition should be based on meritocracy and not individual preferences. Fortunately, there seems to be a strong sense of possessing merit within Barça, and that is how even the youngest of debutants can overtake the most experienced of players in the starting eleven as well.
Moreover, with certain departures leaving specific positions less fortified than others, some young players see a great opening for them to take over. Such is the case for Hector Fort as well, a Spanish right-back who recently celebrated his 18th birthday.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona Atletic fullback wants to use the opportunities he is getting this summer to consolidate himself within the Barça first team. Moreover, with Joao Cancelo’s future looking uncertain and Jules Kounde potentially being moved to the centre-back role in light of Ronald Araujo’s injury, this is as good a chance as any that Fort will get.
He recently played half of the friendly game against Manchester City under Flick’s orders, and last season he made sure to breakout under Xavi’s tutelage as he made 10 appearances for the first team as well across three different competitions.
This time around, however, he hopes to book a permanent spot within the first team rather than constantly moving between Flick’s side and the subsidiary. To do this, he believes that the ongoing preseason tour of the United States of America is the best opportunity for him to do so.
With many players from the youth academy and the subsidiary already having earned their place in the first team, Fort wants to become a part of that elite group as well. Only time will ultimately tell if he manages to achieve this goal of his or not, however.