Barcelona’s African starlet set to become a part of Hansi Flick’s pre-season setup this summer

After yet another triumph in La Liga, Barcelona will focus on the season ahead as they look to maintain their dominance in domestic competitions while doing well in the Champions League.

The summer preparations, though, will be a little different this time around for Hansi Flick, as he will have to kickstart with fewer first-team options, on account of the FIFA World Cup.

Therefore, the initial pre-season setup will naturally include a lot of players from the youth ranks.

Ibrahim Diarra joins the list

According to Diario SPORT, Ibrahim Diarra is expected to be a part of the Barcelona pre-season setup this summer.

The Malian was expected to be a part of the Barcelona Asia Tour last summer. But his hopes were dashed due to an untimely injury.

It was a major setback for the young winger, who later had to undergo surgery, thus adding five more months on the sidelines.

Diarra is now back and was able to feature for Barça Atletic this past season. He is now expected to be a part of the Barcelona pre-season setup, though he is currently in Mali, enjoying vacation.

A sea of La Masia stars in pre-season

Diarra won’t be the only La Masia star who will be a part of the Barcelona pre-season setup this summer.

Apart from the Malian, La Masia stars such as Ebrima Tunkara , Hamza Abdelkarim, Orian Goren, and Òscar Gistau are likely to be a part of the bunch as well.

This will prove to be an exciting opportunity for these youngsters to make an impact and possibly become a viable first-team option for Barcelona senior side next season.

Flick, for his part, won’t be averse to relying on yet another La Masia product to fill his first-team needs next season, having already found success with the likes of Pau Cubarsi, Fermin Lopez and Gerard Martin, among others.