Marc Casadó clarifies the importance that Hansi Flick had in convincing him to stay at Barcelona

Marc Casadó is living a truly dreamy 2024/25 season. The Sant Pere de Vilamajor native was finally able to make the leap that had been expected of him for some time in the dynamics of the first team of FC Barcelona, gaining significant prominence. This was made possible because Hansi Flick, motivated also by the context, decided to trust and bet on him as one of the regular central midfielders in his starting eleven. This move was very well received by the La Masia graduate, who today has accumulated 652 minutes of play in nine matches.

At this point, the fate of Casadó at Barça took a real turn. Why? Well, although the '17' was already on the radar of players to be considered by Xavi Hernández, who recognized his worth as a pivot, it is clear that the Terrassa native was not entirely convinced to bet on the midfielder. Despite being called up a total of 48 times, under the guidance of the man from Terrassa, he barely played 63 minutes in five matches.

Now, when the German coach took the reins of Barcelona replacing Xavi Hernández, this marked a real change in the reality of Marc Casadó and in his career in the Barcelona team. As confirmed by the midfielder in an interview on 'El Larguero' of Cadena Ser, a large part of the idea to renew his contract with Barça and stay in the institution was motivated by Hansi Flick revealing that he counted on him for this sporting project.

"This summer my contract was ending and when I talked to the club about renewing, they told me that Flick was counting on me, that they wanted me in the first team of Barça. First, he wanted to see me in person in the preseason, but he liked what he had seen of me and he trusted me. And from there, well, that was it. That was my idea of staying at the club and showing him that I could be a valid player for the first team."

His great breakthrough in Barcelona's first team

In that line of thought, Casadó also took the opportunity to talk about the influence that the German coach has had on his young career as a player and in this recent explosion in his level. "Both the coach with his advice and the squad are helping me to give my best performance and this helps to make a more attractive game both for me and for the team. I like to feel comfortable on the field and make the team feel comfortable, and when I see things, I try to talk to the coach," he added.

At the same time, the Barcelona academy graduate explained the range of options he offers to the German coach in terms of positions he can play, as well as whether he has a preference for a specific position. "I like to play the same, whether it's as an eight, a six, a ten, or a full-back. It doesn't matter to me. What I want is to wear the Barça shirt for a long time and help the team win games and titles. If I were the coach, where would I put myself? Well, I don't know, it depends a bit on the match," he commented.

"I always play a little further back in the position, in the position of six, and well, it's a bit where I feel most comfortable, so to speak, because it's where I've always played and I already have the movements a bit clearer there. But as I tell you, I enjoy playing in all positions on the field and I think the most important thing is to play."

Comparisons with Joshua Kimmich

Finally, Marc Casadó did not hesitate to describe his style of play or to talk about the comparison that is made between him and Bayern Munich's midfielder, Joshua Kimmich. "Many comparisons have already been made with me. Whether it's Kimmich... What I'm clear about is what I have to do in each game and each training session for things to work well. Well, it's a joke that they call me Kimmich. It was a bit of a joke at first and it has stuck," he concluded.