Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi were the two players who showed the most growth during the last season at FC Barcelona. The Spanish duo went on from being players of the reserve team to get important starting roles as the 2023-24 season progressed.
In this early stage of the 2024-25 season, there were some other youngsters who showed visible signs of growth. This was especially the case with Marc Bernal, who had become one of the starters for Flick before his unfortunate ACL tear that will keep him out of action for the rest of the season.
Another such player who has shown immense growth and promise this season is another midfield pivot, Marc Casado. With all the absences in the midfield, Flick has had to count on him to make up the numbers in his midfield. The youngster has also taken full advantage of these opportunities, and will make it difficult for Flick to choose his starters once players like Frenkie and Gavi return.
But Casado’s performances with Barcelona have also not gone unnoticed elsewhere. This was clear from the fact that he was called up by the Spanish U-21 team to play in the upcoming U-21 European Championship qualifier against Kazakhstan and Malta in this international break.
According to Mundo Deportivo, both he and Pablo Torre are going to play in these two matches. This will be a significant milestone in the career of a young player whose last international appearance came back in February 2020, in the Algarve U-17 International Tournament.
But with the form he has shown for Barcelona, he was close to making the jump directly to the senior Spain team. Luis de la Fuente had him on the shortlist of players to be called up for this international break, but ultimately decided to go with other options.