Barcelona coordinator talks Flick, La Masia, Rashford, Lamine - 'He must be protected' | Barca Universal

"The player must value what it is to be in a youth of Barça, Barça B or the first team,"

"We had lost our way a little, with 15 and 16-year-olds training with the first team. When a player joins the first team at 17, 18, or 19 to go on tour, when the coach decides who goes and who stays, the message conveyed is that those who don't travel aren't being discarded,"

"It will become increasingly difficult to be in the first team, but being on a tour or training in the weeks leading up to it is already a great reward,"

"What Flick wants is that they continue to perform the same or more when they are with Barça Atletic, that they continue to give their best to be able to return to the first team or to help the subsidiary."

La Masia has recently produced several players aged 16 and 17 who progressed to Barcelona's first team. Bojan Krkic broke into the first team at 17 but later faded from prominence and now serves as Barcelona's Coordinator of Football. Krkic identifies young talents and manages their progression toward higher levels and the first team. He emphasizes that players must value being in Barça youth, Barça B, or the first team and warns that the club previously erred by having 15- and 16-year-olds train with the first team. He states that joining first-team tours at 17–19 is rewarding and that not traveling does not equal being discarded. Flick expects youngsters to maintain or improve performances with Barça Atlètic and to give their best to return or to support the subsidiary.

Read at Barca Universal