{"id":62997,"date":"2026-07-30T10:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/62997\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T10:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:30:19","slug":"barcelona-ace-marc-bernal-dismisses-man-city-atletico-links-i-dont-give-it-any-importance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/62997\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona ace Marc Bernal dismisses Man City, Atletico links: &#8216;I don&#8217;t give it any importance&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona have a very talented midfield filled with La Masia graduates, and one of them with a very high ceiling is Marc Bernal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 19-year-old Spaniard was one of Hansi Flick\u2019s first bets when he joined as manager of the Catalan club, but an ACL injury prevented him from gaining as much prominence as some others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spaniard made a successful return last season and had a spell where he was one of the team\u2019s best midfielders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Frenkie de Jong out injured for the foreseeable future, Bernal <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-teenager-backs-himself-to-become-a-regular-starter-everyone-has-to-believe-in-themselves\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">could get an extended run of games<\/a> at the start of the new season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking in an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/as.com\/futbol\/primera\/me-veo-titular-pero-decide-el-mister-f202607-n\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">AS<\/a>, the 19-year-old midfielder made it clear that his long-term future lies at Camp Nou while also discussing his recovery from injury, Barcelona\u2019s ambitions and his hopes for the new season.<\/p>\n<p>Bernal focused only on Barcelona<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal was recently <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-midfield-gem-wants-to-stay-put-amid-interest-from-man-city-chelsea-and-arsenal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">linked with clubs including Manchester City and Atletico Madrid<\/a>, but he revealed those reports have had little effect on him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s true that I\u2019ve seen it, but I don\u2019t give it any importance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"710\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785372953_141_fc-barcelona-v-newcastle-united-fc-uefa-champions-league-2025-26-round-of-16-second-leg-1024x710.jpg\" alt=\"Fermin Lopez and Marc Bernal of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-205316\"  \/>Fully focused on Barcelona. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m here on the preseason camp preparing myself, and that\u2019s all I\u2019m focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The midfielder also addressed his contract situation, with talks over a renewal reportedly on the agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m focused on having a good preseason. That\u2019s something for my agent to deal with,\u201d Bernal explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut my wish is to stay here for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ready after injury setback<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal also confirmed he has fully recovered from the injury that disrupted his progress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYes, I feel really good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019d even say I\u2019m better than ever. Now it\u2019s about preparing for what\u2019s coming and achieving our objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The midfielder revealed Hansi Flick has simply asked him to make the most of pre-season as he starts on equal footing with the rest of the squad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe asked me to make the most of preseason because this is a season where I start from zero alongside the rest of the team,\u201d Bernal said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The teenager also shared his first impressions of Barcelona\u2019s summer arrivals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe haven\u2019t been able to meet Gordon yet, but we played against him last season and he\u2019s a top player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Karim Adeyemi, Bernal added: \u201cHe\u2019s surprised me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eyes on silverware<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking ahead to the campaign, Bernal stressed that Barcelona\u2019s ambition remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fc-barcelona-v-newcastle-united-fc-uefa-champions-league-2025-26-round-of-16-second-leg-1-1024x683.j.jpeg\" alt=\"Marc Bernal of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-197046\"  \/>Targeting the Champions League. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Champions League is both an objective and a dream for all Barcelona fans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know we have a group with enormous potential and that we can win it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also warned against becoming obsessed with Europe\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you become obsessed and think you have to win it no matter what, that\u2019s when things don\u2019t go well,\u201d Bernal explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we do things properly and stay humble, success will come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal may be just 19 right now, but his words suggest maturity beyond his years, a trait seen in most La Masia graduates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Spaniard belongs to La Masia\u2019s class of 2007, which has already given Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal to the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bernal will want to reach the same heights as those two, and this season offers him the perfect chance to begin his journey towards that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the injury now behind him, the next few months could prove crucial for Bernal, and it remains to be seen whether he can make the most of the opportunity and have a breakthrough campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona have a very talented midfield filled with La Masia graduates, and one of them with a very&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,224],"class_list":["post-62997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-marc-bernal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}