Barça Keep Casadó and Fort Apart with Transfers in Mind

Marc Casadó and Héctor Fort trained separately from Barcelona’s first-team group, with Cadena SER reporting that the decision is directly linked to their transfer situations. Barça want to minimise the risk of injury after telling both players to look for new clubs. Following Roony Bardghji’s serious injury, the club apparently has little appetite for watching another potential sale disappear on the training pitch.

Casadó’s situation is particularly striking. The midfielder was given opportunities by Hansi Flick not long ago, but his future is now expected to lie away from Barcelona. Fort finds himself in a similar position. Instead of preparing them normally for the new season, Barça’s priority appears to be getting both players safely to the end of the transfer window.

SER also reports that Tommy Marques, Jofre Torrents, Toni Fernández and Guille Fernández were outside the normal first-team group, with decisions still to be made over their futures. Barça’s summer selection process has become rather literal: some players are preparing for the season, while others are being protected for the exit door.

Barcelona have spent years talking about their commitment to youth. Apparently there is another stage to the famous pathway now: develop them, promote them, put a price on them — and then make sure nobody pulls a muscle before the buyer arrives.