Having missed some of their important players for most part of the season up to now, things are now taking a turn for the better as FC Barcelona have either already recovered these previously injured players or will do so in the coming few weeks.
Two players who were previously out with long-term injuries, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi, have already returned and are playing quite frequently. Similarly, Ronald Araujo’s return is also imminent, while Andreas Christensen can also make his return to the pitch next month.
This is definitely good news for Hansi Flick, but this situation does not exactly benefit everyone associated with Barcelona as some players are going to lose prominence in the team with these players’ returns.
Ansu Fati and Eric Garcia are two players who are going to find it very hard to get minutes with all these players available for Flick, and SPORT reports that the Barcelona coach has already communicated to these two players about their situation in the team.
Furthermore, he has also made it clear that the club would not put any obstacle in their way if they wanted to leave the club in search of more minutes.
Although he decided to return to Barcelona after spending the last season on loan at Girona, Eric Garcia has not been able to get any position of prominence in the team.
Marc Bernal’s injury promised him minutes as a pivot, but the former Manchester City defender himself remained unavailable due to physical problems during October and November, and thus could not take any advantage of this situation.
Now, with Araujo’s imminent return and Christensen’s recovery expected to be completed in January, he is also not expected to get many minutes in the coming few months in the center of the defense.
On the other hand, Flick was confident that he could recover Fati’s best form, and he still has not completely lost faith in him. However, Barcelona demand immediate performances from the youngster, and his opportunities for the medium term are going to be quite limited.
For now, both these players want to remain at Barcelona and want to finish the season without any change of scenery. Beyond that, there will be a lot of uncertainty about their future and they will have to make a decision about it sooner or later.
