Through Sporting Director Deco and comments he made during an appearance on the Que T’hi Juegues program, FC Barcelona has indicated it won’t allow its Spanish players to star at both the Euros and the Olympics this summer.
“We don’t want any player to go to the European Championship and the Games,” Deco stated.
“The [Spanish Football] federation knows that, but you have to talk to the players and manage it,” he added.
If Barca put its foot down, though, it could take a similar strong arm stance to bitter rivals Real Madrid.
On Monday, France senior national team coach Didier Deschamps confirmed a report from L’Equipe which explained that the club will refuse to let its French players – which could include Kylian Mbappe – join Thierry Henry’s U-23 squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.
Henry vowed not to take no for an answer the following day, but agreed with Deschamps that ultimately, as the Olympics aren’t FIFA dates, it is down to the employer whether it makes its players available for the athletics spectacle.
Mbappe has made his dream to play at the Olympics clear, but he revealed in an interview that he won’t start a conflict with his club at the time of the tournament if it doesn’t want him to go.
In an interview with MARCA, 16-year-old Barca winger Lamine Yamal, who PSG is willing to pay $218 million for as Mbappe’s replacement according to the same paper, also expressed a desire to star at the same event.
“Anything that means playing is good for me,” he said, though Barca might not agree after seeing how things turned out for Pedri.
In 2020, the midfielder broke through to the Barca and Spain first XIs before going on to represent his country at both the Euros – where he was voted the Best Young Player – and the Tokyo Olympics which saw La Roja win the silver medal as runners-up to Brazil.
Pedri made a total of 72 appearances that term, but many argue he has never been the same since while failing to play more than 50% of his team’s games across the following three terms thanks to injuries.
Lamine was asked if he feared suffering a similar fate as the number 8 – who is yet again sidelined with a thigh knock – and said: “Well, in the end it all depends on the person. There is still a long way to go. I don’t know, it’s something that can happen, but hey – everything that involves playing I’ll be available.”
Barca is right to be weary with Lamine and fellow teenager Pau Cubarsi – who is on the verge of becoming the youngest defender to debut with Spain since Sergio Ramos – as they are prime candidates to receive the call for the two major tournaments.
Put simply, handling the playing time of both youngsters and other squad members is in the best interests of the players themselves, Barca and their country.
