Official: Barcelona confirm the five club captains for 2024/25
Soon after reports emerged about who the five club captains for the 2024/25 season would be, FC Barcelona have made an official announcement confirming the appointments.
Usually, only four captains are named as part of the leadership group, but the Catalans, under new manager Hansi Flick, have five skippers for the new season.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen takes the first captain spot replacing Sergi Roberto, who left the club earlier this summer as a free agent.
Ronald Araujo moves to the second captain’s position from being the third skipper last season while Frenkie de Jong now takes that position.
Even though it was expected that Robert Lewandowski might be named as one of the captains for the new season, the veteran striker misses out.
Instead, Raphinha has been appointed the fourth captain by Barcelona with 21-year-old Golden Boy Pedri rounding off the list as the fifth captain.
© El vestidor ja ha escollit els capitans de la temporada 2024/25 pic.twitter.com/tq6P6C5Ear
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) August 23, 2024
Raphinha’s appointment comes as a notable surprise considering that he had been linked with a departure all through the summer.
However, the Brazilian international has been a consistently strong performer for Barcelona in his two seasons at the club and is someone who gives it all for the team each time he is on the field, making his captaincy selection deserved.
La Liga has installed new rules this season wherein only the captain can interact with the referee while on the field when discussing any decisions.
But with Ter Stegen in goal and Araujo and Frenkie currently injured, that responsibility could fall on Pedri or Raphinha whenever they are on the field.