Barcelona has already brought Joan Garcia in, and soon they hope to orchestrate the arrival of Nico Williams of Athletic Club. But someone who will feel like a new signing next season is Marc Bernal.
Last summer Bernal broke in the first team of Barcelona at the arrival of Hansi Flick as head coach, and he made a big impression during the preseason. And as a result, he started the first three games of the 2025-26 campaign.
He excelled during these matches, but a disaster struck in the third game, which was against Rayo Vallecano. In stop time he suffered a break on his front cruciate ligament, and that made him missed the rest of the season.
Since then, Bernal has been recovering and this process went well. He is expected to be training in the pre-season when the Barcelona team returns later this month, and he himself confirmed this during an interview with Deleito (via MD).
“In principle, I can start training (at the start of the preseason) with the rest of my teammates. But I don't know when I will be able to play. There is that fear of not returning to the same level as before, but I want to do it with confidence.”
Bernal also opened his recovery of the ACL Teacher. He revealed that it was difficult to mentally deal, especially seeing how well Barcelona did last season.
“At the time of the injury, I already knew that something had happened. I was going to intercept a ball on the wing, I was hit from behind and I heard a crack. I broke down, with a whole year without playing. It destroyed me mentally.
“I would have liked to have had the successes of the team, but especially on the Espanyol field, the day we won La Liga.”
Bernal is expected to be an important player for Barcelona as soon as he gets back to speed. Flick sees him very well and he will compete for the defensive midfield positions next to Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Marc Casado.