Hansi Flick discusses individual cases of Barcelona stars – “He’s always on fire”

Hansi Flick was presented to the media for the first time as Barcelona manager on Thursday. During the press conference, the former Bayern Munich and Germany head coach was grilled on a wide variety of topics, which included the individual cases of several of his first team players.

One player that Flick did not discuss was Sergi Roberto. As per MD, he made sure the press knew that the former club captain is not currently being managed by him, following the expiration of his contract at the end of June.

“He’s not a Barcelona player at the moment.”

Flick spoke on Frenkie de Jong, who’s currently suffering with a worrying ankle injury. Despite reports that the Dutch midfielder is a candidate to be sold this summer, Flick assured that he will be a key player for Barcelona during the upcoming season.

“Frenkie is a fantastic player, he has shown it, he is recovering well and following the plan, I hope to have him in the group and then we will see.”

Ronald Araujo was also spoken on by Flick. He’s expressed his disappointment at being without the Uruguayan defender for the next four months.

“Whenever a player of this quality gets injured, it’s not good for the coach or the club, but you have to accept it. He has been operated on and now recovery will begin. I hope he will be back as soon as possible. He brings the stability in defence that we need, but we will see how we deal without him.”

Finally, Flick touched on Gavi, whom he has been very impressed by during the first weeks of Barcelona’s pre-season training program.

“Gavi is always on fire when he’s on the pitch. He wants to come back quickly, but he has to be patient. We will give him the time he needs and I hope he can spend 14 or 15 years playing in this team. He has already shown everything he can give to this club.”