A new season started for FC Barcelona as a visitor against Mallorca with a victory included. However, Marc Casadó remains far from the prominence he was used to seeing last season, since against the Balearic team he was left without seeing action on the field.
It is worth remembering that the '17' was a regular last season in Hansi Flick's starting XI, until the recovery from the discomfort that afflicted Frenkie de Jong in one of his ankles, being removed from the spotlight in the second part of the season.
Precisely the only midfielder who did not get minutes in the match against the 'bermellón' team was Casadó. The midfield area was made up from the start by Pedri, Frenkie and Fermín López, while Gavi and Dani Olmo entered in the second half.
The preseason, a relief for Casadó
The surplus in the center of the field, for now, is taking Marc Casadó as a victim, who earned a place as a starter in the 2024/25 season after the injury of Marc Bernal, who is in the final stretch of his recovery.
However, the fact that the native of Sant Pere de Villamajor has not played against Mallorca for a single minute does not mean that Flick does not want him in the team. An indication that, for the moment, it is because he has not played due to the fierce competition in the area is that during the preseason he participated in the matches played on Asian soil.
Casadó played 180 minutes in the preparation matches, setting aside the theory that the midfielder is a discard for the coach. The player remains focused on working to sneak into the next matches.
As already mentioned, the main drawback for Marc is the number of players there are for the midfield, but considering the fact that Barça wants to compete for all the titles in the current season, rotations will be a constant, and in this scenario the '17' could raise his hand and regain prominence again.
Marc Casadó, closely followed by Atlético de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen
In this context, the midfielder could consider a departure to have immediate prominence, but for now, his desire is to stay at Barcelona and fight for a place. Of course, the player has no shortage of interested clubs.
Both Atlético de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen have sounded out the player; even, according to rumors, the German team presented an offer of 30 million euros, 20 fixed and 10 in variables for Casadó, but Barça rejected it because they considered it insufficient. In addition, they will not push the player to leave.
Likewise, the 'colchonero' team would have asked the '17' to force his departure from the club so as not to have to pay the minimum 50 'kilos' that the azulgrana team demands for him, if he decides to leave.
Casadó is very popular with Diego Pablo Simeone. The Argentine coach would assure him minutes, as he considers him an ideal profile for his tactical system, but for the moment, nothing seems to change Marc's mind, who also received interest from other clubs such as Manchester United and Naples.