Xavi confirms plans to hand Barcelona youngster a chance in pre-season | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Xavi has on Wednesday confirmed that a highly-regarded young member of the club’s academy setup will be afforded the chance to prove himself ahead of next season.

The player in question? Marc Casadó.

20-year-old midfielder Casadó’s is a name which will be familiar to regular viewers of Barcelona.

This comes with the Spaniard having been included in Xavi’s first-team setup on a whole host of occasions over the course of the last two seasons.

An integral figure in Rafa Márquez’s Barca Atlètic, though, Casadó, to date, has managed just two La Liga appearances.

Expected to put pen to paper on a new contract in Catalunya’s capital imminently, the assumption, in turn, was that the all-action engine room starlet was in line for a year-long loan spell away from Barcelona next season.

If the latest comments on the part of the aforementioned Xavi are anything to go by, however, then as much seems far from certain.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s La Liga meeting with Almería, the Blaugrana headmaster confirmed plans for Casadó to stay put ‘at least for pre-season’:

“Marc Casadó? I have said it many times. I like him, he competes very well. The idea is that he stays with us and at least does the pre-season.”

Conor Laird | GSFN