Barcelona will begin preparations for the 2025-26 season starts on Sunday. Softfootball gathered that Hansi Flick had set July 13th as resumption date for all players to resume for the new season after about 4 weeks holiday with senior players are expected to be there from the first day,
Barca’s first training session will take place on Monday and Flick’s side will spend the following 10 days working at their Joan Gamper training facilities. On July 24, they will fly to Japan for a pre-season tour where they face local side Vissel Kobe before travelling to South Korea to face FC Seoul and Daegu.
The Athletic reports that the club want to offload Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who is on a high salary after having signed up Espanyol man, Joan Garcia; the only summer arrival the club has so far. Further reports says the German shot stopper is keen to complete his contract which ends in 2028 as Camp Nou.
To settle their differences, Flick assured Ter Stegen of a private chat when training restarts on Monday as the coach will deliver the club’s decision to him. Barcelona are hoping the lure of the 2026 World Cup would push Ter Stegen to want to move elsewhere.
This week, the club confirmed a two-year contract extension for Wojciech Szczesny after the Pole came out of retirement last season when Ter Stegen was injured.
They plan for Szczesny to be their second-choice goalkeeper behind Garcia. The club were very happy with the 35-year-old’s influence last term, not just on the pitch but also as a veteran in the dressing room.
If Ter Stegen stays, he automatically becomes the third choice goalkeeper at the club with academy graduate, Inaki Pena said to be unhappy with the club’s choice of signing Garcia and has asked to leave.
Barcelona have had a stalled transfer window this summer with their financial struggles. The Catalans are finding it hard to sign players, as a prior update from Softfootball revealed that Marcus Rashford, who was deemed likely to join the club, is now pushing to join Fenerbahce instead.
Marcus Rashford has reportedly agreed to join Turkish club side Fenerbahce as he searches for a Manchester United exit. Rashford only wanted a move to Barcelona until events took a twist.
Rashford is believed to have made a U-turn with his decision after a phone call with old boss Jose Mourinho who is actively looking for new legs in his squad to rival Galatasaray who robbed them off the Turkish League title last season.
