Barcelona players and staff arrive at Ciutat Esportiva ahead of flight to Japan | OneFootball

With Marcus Rashford’s signing now official, few would have expected that this week’s main drama at FC Barcelona would involve the trip to Japan.

On Wednesday afternoon, the club announced that they had cancelled the scheduled Thursday morning flight to Japan and the friendly against Vissel Kobe due to the match promoter breaching the terms of the contract.

But the payment issues were resolved on Thursday, leading to the trip and the match being back on. However, logistical issues meant Barcelona could not fly out on the same day.

Barcelona ready to take off

Now, according to Mundo Deportivo, the Barcelona squad is at Ciutat Esportiva, preparing to board a flight to Japan.

Despite no official announcement from the club, players and staff members began arriving at 8 a.m. to have breakfast together and hold a meeting before departing.

Set to fly to Japan. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

Their flight to Kansai is scheduled to leave around 11:00 a.m., effectively restoring Thursday’s original plan – only 24 hours later.

Following the cancellation of the trip, there was a lot of confusion among the players. Head coach Hansi Flick replaced the travel plan with a morning training session.

Once the financial issue was resolved later on Tuesday, the Blaugrana explored multiple options for the team to fly to Japan later in the day.

The club initially targeted flights around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., then considered arranging one at 10 p.m., but ultimately abandoned the idea of flying on Thursday due to aircraft unavailability.

Now, though, the Catalan giants will take off for Japan soon, with the friendly against Vissel Kobe set to be played on Sunday afternoon.