Barcelona may look no further than their own academy for midfield cover this summer. Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo has named Orian Goren, the 17-year-old Israeli in the club's youth ranks, as a candidate to help fill the gap left by Frenkie de Jong, who faces months on the sidelines after returning injured from the World Cup.
The report, picked up by Israeli media on Friday, frames Goren as an internal option for Hansi Flick, who is said to prefer promoting from La Masia over spending in the market. Mundo Deportivo relays a view inside the club that the midfielder has more than enough potential to reach the first team, with those who work with him comparing his style to Pedri's. Every element of that projection remains reported rather than confirmed by the club.
De Jong's situation is the trigger. The Dutch midfielder played through pain in his right knee during the Netherlands' World Cup campaign, which ended with a penalty-shoot-out defeat to Morocco in the round of 32, and checks on his return to Barcelona found the joint unstable, with ligament damage feared.
Spanish estimates of his absence vary. Early reporting put the layoff at around four months; Diario AS has suggested it could stretch to six.
Goren's own credentials are not in dispute. Born in Savyon on 15 March 2009, he came through Maccabi Petah Tikva's youth section before moving with his family to Catalonia and entering La Masia. He signed his first professional contract at 16, tying him to Barcelona until June 2028, and spent last season with the under-19s, the club's Juvenil A side.
The Catalan press has long been enthusiastic about him. Sport has described Goren as 'the most intelligent player in Barcelona's youth department', a technically polished midfielder with exceptional vision who can operate as an interior, push further forward, or even drop in as a pivot. Comparisons with Pedri and Andrés Iniesta have followed him through the age groups.
What is verifiable is his presence around the senior squad. Goren was among the academy players called into Barcelona's pre-season group when training resumed on 13 July, one of the youngest names involved.
The schedule ahead includes a first friendly against CE Europa on 24 July, two matches in Birmingham, a triangular tournament in Italy and the traditional Joan Gamper fixture.
The distinction between covering in pre-season and replacing De Jong competitively is worth keeping in view. Any minutes for Goren in the coming weeks would arrive in friendlies, and the Spanish reporting itself places other academy midfielders in the same conversation. A leap straight from Juvenil A to La Liga duty would be exceptional even by La Masia's standards, however highly the club rate him.
For Israeli football, the mere mention is notable. Goren, an Israel youth international who featured in under-17 European qualifying in March 2025, would become one of very few Israelis to train regularly with Barcelona's first team. The friendlies of late July should offer the first hard evidence of how seriously Flick intends to test the idea.
