Fermin Lopez impressing Barcelona management on pre-season tour of the USA

At the weekend we took a look at the La Masia 7, the youth players selected to tour the USA with the Barcelona first-team. Fermin Lopez was one of those players we profiled, and according to reports, he’s making quite an impression on players and staff.

[TRANSLATION: He commented on it @albert_roge a few days ago. Fermín López is causing very good sensations in these first days of preseason. In the dressing room they are surprised with his good level -also the staff- and both Balde and Pedri have already praised him publicly.]

The report comes from Toni Juanmarti and considering we’ve heard rumours that Barcelona are looking to strengthen their midfielder this summer, this is notable.

Lopez spent the 2022 season on loan at Linares Deportivo and was an outstanding performer for the third-division side, bagging 12 goals and registering 4 assists.

As Juanmarti referenced, Barcelona star Pedri singled out Lopez for praise last week when he said:

"“A player I like a lot is Fermín [López], I’ve never had the pleasure of playing with him and I see that he has a lot of energy and above all a lot of quality,”"

Although he came through the ranks as a central midfielder, he does offer a lot of versatility considering he’s spent time as an attacking midfielder and left winger.

Linares actually deployed him mostly as an attacking midfielder and they reaped the benefits.

He’s been productive in every position he’s played. He scored 6 goals with 2 assists in 19 games as an attacking midfielder and 4 goals and 2 assists in 14 games as a left winger.

The right-footed midfielder has a contract that runs through to the end of June 2024, and with him impressing in training, there’s a good chance we see plenty of him in game-action over the next week.

Lopez showed last year that he’s technically very proficient in the middle of the park, showcasing some real skill paired with outstanding movement off the ball, perfect for the Xavi system predicated on space exploitation.

Xavi will want to see what he has in the young midfielder before deciding on his future, whether that’s if he’ll be a member of the first-team squad or whether Barca should look to extend his deal.