#youth-integration

#youth-integration

Tommy Marques has quietly become a familiar figure around Barcelona's first-team environment under Hansi Flick. The 19-year-old midfielder has been a constant presence in training sessions in recent weeks, regularly working alongside established senior players. Yet despite that growing exposure, his official first-team debut has so far remained out of reach. As Barcelona prepare to begin their Copa del Rey campaign against CD Guadalajara, there is a growing sense that the competition may once again serve as the perfect platform for youth integration.

As Barcelona continue to battle a wave of injuries that has decimated Hansi Flick's first-team squad, the one silver lining emerging from this crisis is the renewed involvement of La Masia talents. The club's academy, long celebrated for producing world-class players, is once again stepping up to fill the void left by injured stars. Pedri's latest setback, which is expected to keep him sidelined for six to seven weeks, has forced Flick to rethink his midfield options.

The most talented, yes. The strongest, not yet. The one with the most potential, yes. It is infinite. In all positions, we have players who are starters for the best clubs in the world. But as a team, we are not stronger than the team that was world champion in 2018, or than the one that made the final in 2022.

"We had five different goalscorers [at West Ham] which shows the team is very ambitious and has a lot of quality," Cucurella told the club website. "We have new players who bring a lot of energy and quality. It's about teamwork and we all showed we can bring something to the team. All of us need to be important during the season. We have improved and we need to keep working.