{"id":72209,"date":"2026-08-18T16:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T16:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/72209\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T16:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T16:33:14","slug":"report-19-year-old-barcelona-starlet-set-to-replace-exit-bound-midfielder-in-first-team-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/72209\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: 19-year-old Barcelona starlet set to replace exit-bound midfielder in first-team squad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Less than a week away from their first La Liga game, Xavi Espart seems to have already earned his place in FC Barcelona\u2019s first-team squad for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indeed, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/fc-barcelona\/20260818\/1004217091\/espart-gana-flick-ocupar-plaza-casado-dorsal-liga.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, the 19-year-old La Masia gem could become a fully fledged first-team player, taking the place that Marc Casado is expected to leave vacant.<\/p>\n<p>A versatile replacement for Casado<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Espart started the friendly against FC Basel this past weekend, which ended in a 2-5 Bar\u00e7a victory, and played 79 minutes. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He initially lined up as a pivot midfielder alongside Marc Bernal before moving into an interior role. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the triangular tournament in Udine, meanwhile, he played at right-back, showing a level of maturity beyond his years in every position he occupied.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/real-madrid-cf-v-fc-barcelona-laliga-ea-sports-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Marc Casado of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-192806\"  \/>Casado will leave Barcelona. (Photo by Angel Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Given <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelonas-xavi-espart-dilemma-a-right-back-with-a-midfielders-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">how he has progressed in recent weeks<\/a>, Espart is now expected to take the squad place that Casado is set to leave vacant. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The homegrown midfielder\u2019s No. 17 shirt has already become vacant on La Liga\u2019s website as he works toward completing his departure, potentially to Saudi Arabia, with Barcelona already having a readymade replacement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Espart\u2019s rise comes at a particularly important moment for Bar\u00e7a. The academy graduate has demonstrated that he can contribute in midfield as well as at right-back, giving Hansi Flick another versatile option within the first-team squad.<\/p>\n<p>Back in training<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona will take on Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper Trophy on Wednesday evening at the Spotify Camp Nou. Come the weekend, they will begin their La Liga campaign away against Elche.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/udinese-v-barcelona-friuli-venezia-giulia-cup-2-1024x819.jpg\" alt=\"Xavi Espart, Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-209394\"  \/>A first-team berth awaits Espart. (Photo by Timothy Rogers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, it will not come as a surprise to see Espart play an important role in those matches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 19-year-old starlet <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/barcelona-teenage-prodigy-returns-to-training-ahead-of-gamper-trophy-match\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">returned to training today<\/a> after being granted a rest by manager Flick on Monday. He worked normally with the rest of the group as preparations continued for the Gamper Trophy match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be interesting to see if the La Masia sensation starts against Al Ahly, and in case he does, whether it is as a midfielder or at right-back. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What appears clear is that Espart will have a bigger role in the first-team dynamics in the new season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than a week away from their first La Liga game, Xavi Espart seems to have already earned&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,223,1866,7887],"class_list":["post-72209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-marc-casado","tag-xavi-espart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72209","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=72209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}