Official: Barcelona promote Yusuf Demir to the first-team

As per the information from La Liga’s official website, Barcelona have registered Yusuf Demir as a first-team player.

The 18-year-old Austrian prodigy arrived at the club earlier this summer from Rapid Vienna on a season-long loan deal with an obligation to make the transfer permanent next year. The versatile forward had been initially registered with the Catalans’ B team.

However, Demir has made quite the impression in his short time in Catalonia. Indeed, the youngster performed admirably during the pre-season, catching the attention of manager Ronald Koeman, who decided to use the new signing as part of his squad, ahead of Barcelona B captain Alex Collado, who in turn has now left the club on loan.

Demir made his competitive debut for Barcelona in the second La Liga game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, getting 28 minutes of action on the field. Now that Barcelona have lost Rey Manaj and are on the verge of seeing Antoine Griezmann return to Atletico Madrid, space had opened up in the first-team roster.

And, as per the latest information from the La Liga website, Demir has been officially registered as a first-team player for Barcelona. The aforementioned exits would also likely mean that the one-time capped Austrian international could see more regular game-time in the coming weeks.

With Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Aguero and Ansu Fati still sidelined, Barcelona will need all hands on deck, and Demir could certainly stand to benefit from it.