The Spanish newspaper 'Mundo Deportivo' reported that Hans Flick, coach of Barcelona, called up a new defender from Barcelona Athletic for a trial on Thursday, after including on Wednesday the player Xavi Espart, the right-back of the reserve team, who has gained the coach's confidence since the beginning of the season, alongside the newly arrived left-back in January, Patricio Pacifico.

The newspaper explained that Thursday's training session at the Sant Joan Despi sports city witnessed Flick's repeated work with Espart, but he replaced Pacifico with the captain and left-back of the reserve team, Alvaro Cortes.

This came in light of the absence of both Kounde and Balde over the next month, in addition to the absence of Christensen, as the coach seeks to prepare alternatives to compensate for the defensive shortage in the team.

The report indicated that midfielder Gavi continued to train with all players at a good pace, while Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who tried a protective mask after breaking the inner bone of his left eye socket against Villarreal, trained with all his teammates, and is expected to be ready to participate in the match against San Mames scheduled for next Saturday.