€3m fringe Barcelona player has already accumulated more minutes than several established stars | OneFootball

Hansi Flick was unable to get a lot of reinforcements to his FC Barcelona squad in the last summer transfer window, mainly because of the financial problems being faced by the Blaugranes.

Still, the coach utilized the resources he had on his hands and was able to start the season in a very successful fashion. Although the team has lost some steam lately, Flick’s readiness to work with the available resources, mainly academy graduates and quarry players, is still commendable.

Other than the more notable youngsters, like Yamal, Cubarsi, and Casado, another player who has gotten a lot of prominence in Flick’s Barcelona is the defender Gerard Martín, whom the German chose as his preferred replacement for Alejandro Balde.

Although the youngster has been shaky at times, Flick has a lot of confidence in him. As SPORT has reported, this confidence is clear from the fact that Martin stands 12th in the rank of players to have played the most minutes this season, and can easily get to the 11th position as the player above him currently is Marc Andre Ter Stegen, who is out with a long-term injury.

The €3m-rated Spanish full-back has played 14 matches in total up to now, starting 7 of them. He also has accumulated two assists in these appearances.

With these numbers, he is already ahead of several more established players in the Barcelona squad, including Fermin Lopez, Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong, Hector Fort, Dani Olmo, Gavi, and Pablo Torre.

Furthermore, the youngster is getting increasingly used to the high demands of Flick’s defensive approach and playing in the top Spanish division, and his performances are getting better.

Hopefully, the defender will continue to improve as Flick maintains his confidence in his abilities. He has also faced some criticism lately, particularly for his performance against Celta Vigo, but he took a step in the right direction against Brest, a game in which he set up Dani Olmo for one of his goals.