Barcelona youngster disappears from first-team squad on club website | OneFootball

Something of an unusual development was noted on the official website of La Liga champions Barcelona on Friday.

This comes after young goalkeeper Diego Kochen disappeared from the Blaugrana’s first-team squad list.

Kochen has for his part been widely tipped to be afforded a call-up for Barca’s season opener against RCD Mallorca on Saturday.

This comes amid something of a personnel crisis between the posts in Hansi Flick’s squad, owing to a combination of fitness woes, and registration problems.

This week, Kochen, in turn, was added as a first-team player on Barcelona’s website.

As per a report from Mundo Deportivo, however:

‘The young goalkeeper Diego Kochen appeared on the Barça squad list registered for La Liga, with the number ’31’. However, Kochen’s presence was fleeting, and he no longer appears on the Barça roster. A real enigma.’

It is also noted that the 19-year-old technically does not need to be registered as a first-team player to feature in La Liga, owing to his status as a reserve team player under the age of 23.

Conor Laird – GSFN