It’s not just Barcelona’s first team which the club are trying to instigate serious changes in. The B team is set to undergo significant upheaval too.
Not least, the name of Barcelona B will revert back to Barcelona Atletic, as was the case during 2008-2010, a change confirmed by the club website.
Mundo Deportivo also say that several of the current squad have been told that they won’t be continuing beyond the summer. Most notable of which are central defender Arnau Comas (22) and Gerard ‘Peque’ Fernandez (19). Coming through the youth teams both had been earmarked as having first team potential.
Joining them are Santiago Ramos Mingo (20), Angel Rodado (25), Jordi Escobar (20) and Lucas de Vega (22), none of whom managed to make a major impact in their time.
Brazilian midfielder Matheus Pereira (24), who was brought into the club to the tune of €7.6m from Juventus is likely to continue with the second team. On a contract until 2025, the club have little hope of moving him on without making a significant loss.
It appears as if manager Sergi Barjuan will continue, with no news on his future, while the club look to put together a roster without breaking the bank. That will likely involve several promotions from the Juvenil A side (under 19s), from which the standouts have been Estanis Pedrola, Ilias Akhomach, Diego Almeida, Aleix Garrido and ‘keeper Ander Astralaga.
The most uncertain case is that of Jandro Orellana. A talented pivote who suffered a serious injury and is now 21, his contract expires at the end of June. The club has an option to extend it by 2 years unilaterally, but appear not to have taken a decision.
In recent years, Barcelona had begun to develop players better while Francisco Garcia Pimienta was in charge. Although the likes of Gavi and Ansu Fati had only brief involvement with the B team, Nico Gonzalez, Riqui Puig, Oscar Mingueza and Ronald Araujo were all part of Garcia Pimienta’s team, who is now in charge at Las Palmas.
