Three seasons ago, the four captains of FC Barcelona were Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, and Sergi Roberto. As of today, none of those four players are at the club. Messi left in 2022, Pique midway through the 2022/23 season, Busquets in 2023 and Roberto this summer.
Ahead of the new season under Hansi Flick, Barcelona fans were curious to find out which players would make up the captaincy contingent going forward. As revealed by Jijantes FC on X, the Blaugrana squad has chosen its leadership group.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen being the first captain comes as no surprise considering he took the armband against Valencia in the La Liga season opener. Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong who were a part of the leadership group last season have each made a step up to become the second and third captain respectively.
The surprise comes in the fact that unlike the usual four that Barcelona name in the captaincy group, the club looks set to have a fifth name this time around. Raphinha is likely to be named Barcelona’s fourth captain with Pedri being the fifth.
One glaring omission from this list is the experienced Robert Lewandowski. The Polish veteran not being named in the leadership group might be a consequence of the fact that he might not be around at the club for a long time.
It’s a huge vote of confidence from the squad in naming Raphinha as the fourth captain. The Brazilian winger has not always had it his way at Barcelona despite being very consistent and this added responsibility could help fans see him in a different light.
A case could be made that Gavi must be a part of this leadership group but he is just 20 years old and will surely get his chance in the future. The Spanish youngster looks like a player born to be Barcelona’s captain in the future.
The idea behind naming five captains could be due to the fact that both Araujo and Frenkie are out with long-term injuries. That said, it’s not often that Barcelona play without Ter Stegen meaning Raphinha’s services might not be called upon.
Armband or not, every player in the Barcelona squad is a leader in his own right and will want to take responsibility. It remains to be seen how this new look cabinet performs under the able guidance of Hansi Flick.
