Barcelona concerned about repeat of Pedri case following 21-year-old’s call up for Paris Olympics | OneFootball

On Wednesday, Santi Denia announced his Spain squad for this summer’s Olympics Games in Paris. One of the headline additions is that of Fermin Lopez, who is currently in Germany with La Roja for Euro 2024. The 21-year-old will join up with the U23 squad once that tournament is over, where he will be alongside Barcelona teammates Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia.

Barcelona may have avoided Lamine Yamal going to the Games, but they haven’t done so with Fermin – and this has caused great concern within Can Barca. As per Diario AS, there is a fear that the young midfielder could end up “exhausted” and “saturated”, similar to how Pedri was during that infamous summer in 2021.

While it’s true that Fermin has not played anywhere near as many games as Pedri did during that 2020-21 campaign, he has not managed to have an extended rest because of his call-up for Euro 2024. His inclusion in the Olympics squad also means that he could miss the vast majority of Barcelona’s pre-season.