Hansi Flick has publicly vouched for Orian Goren, telling reporters during Barcelona's preseason that the Israeli teenager "has tremendous quality and he's proving it," according to ONE.
The endorsement came as Flick was asked about the crop of La Masia academy players he has folded into first-team training this summer, a group Goren has been a prominent part of since Barcelona's tour and warm-up fixtures in England last month.
Flick framed his answer around a wider point about the squad he now has at his disposal. "When I compare it with my first year here in 2024, I think this season we have more quality," he said. "More quality in the squad, more quality among the young players, and more quality from La Masia."
Within that assessment, he picked out two names specifically: Ebrima Tunkara and Goren. "Ebrima is a great talent," Flick said. "And Orian as well."
It is the latest sign of how far Goren has risen in barely three years at the club. Born in Savyon on March 15, 2009, he joined Maccabi Petah Tikva's youth department at eight before his family relocated to Spain, where he passed trials to enter Barcelona's academy in his early teens.
Barcelona handed him his first professional contract at 16, a deal running to 2028, and he made his senior debut for the club in a preseason friendly this summer — becoming, by some distance, one of the youngest players to appear for Flick's first team. He has also represented Israel at under-17 level.
Tunkara, the other player Flick highlighted, is even younger. The 16-year-old, born in Gambia, has been one of the stories of Barcelona's preseason and was named player of the tournament at this summer's under-17 European Championship after a run of a goal and four assists.
A third academy graduate, 18-year-old Xavi Espart, has also been drawn regularly into first-team training under Flick and already has senior minutes to his name, having come on as a substitute in a Champions League match against Newcastle United in March.
None of it guarantees Goren regular football with Barcelona's senior side this season — he is expected, for now, to continue his development with the reserve team, Barça Atlètic — but Flick's willingness to name him unprompted, alongside a squad that includes Lamine Yamal and Pedri, is itself the headline in Catalonia.
For Israeli football, still working out how to turn rare talents like Goren into a durable pipeline to Europe's top clubs, that kind of comment from a manager who has just won the league and is chasing more silverware this season carries real weight.
