Barcelona plan to integrate on-loan midfielder into first-team next season

Barcelona have as many as seven players on loan this season. Interestingly enough, all those departures happened for several reasons. To begin with, the likes of Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti departed mostly because they did have any place in Xavi’s scheme of things.

At the same time, players such as Nico Gonzalez and Ez Abde moved to have more minutes in their tanks so that they can push for the first-team role next season.

Now, as Ferran Correas writes for SPORT, Barcelona’s aim is to inlcude Nico Gonzalez into the first-team next season.

The 21-year-old central midfielder is currently on loan to Valencia and unfortunately for the player, the team is struggling for form this season. As it turns out, the team has already had as many as three managers this season and despite the constant changes, they find themselves fighting to avoid relegation.

As for Nico, he hasn’t played competitive football since December 2022 as he continues his rehabilitation to recover from a foot injury. The aforementioned outlet says the player is currently unavailable since he had surgery for a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his left foot.

Before his injury, however, the 21-year-old was a regular fixture for former manager Gennaro Gattuso, under whom he made it to the starting XI on a regular basis.

Before moving to Valencia last summer, Nico renewed his contract with Barcelona until 2026. It must be noted that Los Che do not really have a purchase option in the 21-year-old’s loan deal.

That means once Nico returns to Barcelona with his full fitness, he will aim to challenge the likes of Gavi, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong for a place in the midfield. And if that is the case, it will be interesting to see how Xavi manages his players next season.