Hansi Flick used his pre-match press conference to close down two separate storylines at once, confirming that Alejandro Balde remains part of his squad and sketching out a plan to bring Rodri into the side alongside Pedri when Barcelona host Athletic Club on Thursday.
Balde had been left out of the matchday squad for the previous league fixture against Elche, with Flick explaining at the time that he had sensed "something wrong" with the 22-year-old and told him to take a day to clear his head rather than framing it as a disciplinary call.
That absence fed transfer speculation around the young left-back, but Flick was unambiguous when asked again this week. "He's part of the squad. Whether he plays or not, we'll decide that tomorrow," he said, adding that he had spoken to Balde directly. "It's important that he's committed to us."
The coach went further in describing Balde's standing at the club. "He's very young and has a lot of potential. He's improved, but he can improve further. He carries the Barça colours in his heart," Flick said, while stressing the player still has work to do: "He has to be 100 per cent committed to professional football and give his all for Barça."
On the other major team-news question, Flick confirmed Rodri is in line to feature against Athletic Club, though not for the full 90 minutes. The plan, as he described it, is to ease the midfielder in alongside Pedri in a pairing he believes can change how Barcelona control matches.
"Rodri has more experience; he's a leader," Flick said. "Together with Pedri, they'll allow us to control the match, the ball and the opposition."
There was better news, too, on Gavi, who took a knock to his right knee in the first half against Elche and needed treatment on the pitch — an alarming sight given the midfielder's history of two prior surgeries on that same knee. Flick played down the worst fears in his latest update. "He's fine. I think he's doing much better than he was after the match, and from the footage you can see it wasn't that serious," he said, though he still expects Gavi to be out for around a week.
Andreas Christensen was also raised as a defensive option, with Flick again keeping his cards close: the Dane remains part of the group, he said, but the final call on personnel would only come the following day.
Asked once more about Barcelona's pursuit of a new No. 9, with Julián Álvarez's name attached to the speculation, Flick declined to be drawn in. "We'll have to talk to Deco. We have to do what's best, and it's going to be next week," he said, pushing any transfer-market decision beyond the Athletic Club fixture.
Barcelona go into the match at Camp Nou looking to build on a 5-0 win over Elche, with kickoff on Thursday at 9pm local time in what is an early league test against an Athletic side that has traditionally been awkward opposition at San Mamés and difficult to break down even away from home.
