With Barcelona set to take off on their trip to the United States of America tomorrow, expectations are that manager Xavi Hernandez will be calling up some players from the youth and subsidiary squads for the tour.
As things stand, reports suggest that six players – Marc Casado, Mikayil Faye, Aleix Garcia, Alex Valle, Lamine Yamal, and Ander Astralaga – are likely to make the Transatlantic trip tomorrow.
Now, journalist Albert Roge is reporting that two notable absentees from the aforementioned list – Chadi Riad and Estanis Pedrola – will not be travelling as Xavi wants the La Masia duo to spend the next season away on loan.
Both Riad and Estanis are players that are regarded very highly within Barcelona. The academy duo both made their first-team debuts for the Catalan outfit during the 2022/23 season, featuring in one game apiece.
However, at the moment, there appears to be no space for the duo in Xavi’s first-team setup.
Indeed, with Inigo Martinez arriving this summer, Barça already have a well-stocked centre-back department, leaving no room for Riad.
Meanwhile, the club’s inability to offload Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres, coupled with Xavi’s insistence on retaining Ez Abde, means that Estanis, too, is unlikely to see much action with the senior team.
As such, Xavi wants both the defender and the winger to leave the club on loan and gain experience by playing regularly elsewhere, much like Abde did last season. And, there appears to be no shortage of suitors either.
As far as Riad is concerned, the 20-year-old has offers from Spanish second-division sides like FC Andorra and Sporting Gijon while Dutch club RKC Waalwijk are also keen.
Estanis, too, has plenty of admirers, as several La Liga and Eredivisie clubs, including Valencia, Celta Vigo, PSV Eindhoven, and AZ Alkmaar are keen on signing him.
Both Riad and Estanis will thus not be travelling with the rest of the team tomorrow and will stay back in Barcelona to secure loan exits away.
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