Roony Bardghji, forceful about his future in Barcelona: "I didn't come to play for the reserve team"

Roony Bardghji spoke with the press in his country before the match against Slovenia for the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The 19-year-old striker revealed his future with FC Barcelona, which has generated doubts after his non-registration in the first team.

Due to Barça's problems with 'Fair Play' financial, the club preferred not to register him in the official LaLiga squad. However, the Swedish international was enabled with Barça Atlètic, for now without an assigned number. 

In that sense, the Kuwait-born player was forceful when referring to his expectations with the Blaugrana team. Although he understands the reasons why he still has a first-team record, Bardghji has no intention of being a protagonist with Juliano Belletti's team in the Second RFEF.

Roony Bardhji stands firm: he only plans to play with the first team

Regarding whether Barça's financial situation has generated doubts about his future, Roony commented: "Both the club and I knew what the plan was. From day one, the key has been to be in the first team. Of everything that has been said, nothing is true. It hasn't affected me," said the player in statements collected by the local newspaper 'Expressen'.

Likewise, the Swedish international ruled out becoming a residual player for Hansi Flick. Bardghji hopes to fight for his place in the squad, although for now his record is with Barça Atlètic.

"I don't think I would have signed if it was to play in the youth team. I have played more than 100 games in an A team and I would not have agreed to go to a B team. That is something that they have invented," he said referring to his situation in Barcelona.

One of the rumors pointed to his departure on loan due to the 'Fair Play' issue or if Flick was not counting on him. None of these scenarios ended up happening. Thus, Roony Bardghji hopes to definitively join the dynamics of the first team from next week, when the team prepares the match of matchday 4 of La Liga against Valencia.

The striker played 147 minutes in the four summer friendlies, scoring a goal against Vissel Kobe (1-3) in his debut. Afterwards, he was left out of the squads against Mallorca, Levante and Rayo as he did not yet have a federative license.

Bardghji is registered in Barça Atlètic, but still without an assigned number

Roony Bardghji celebrating his goal with Barça against Vissel Kobe.

Looking ahead to matchday 4 of La Liga, Roony could enter Hansi Flick's squad as a reserve team player. However, he still does not have an assigned number, with '21' being the number he could wear if he adds minutes with Juliano Belletti's team.

During the preseason he used '19', but as this is a first team number he could only use it if the club updates his record as a LaLiga player. For now, this will not happen while the club does not return to the 1:1 rule of 'Fair Play' financial.

At the moment, Barcelona has Jofre Torrents, Toni and Guille Fernández, goalkeeper Diego Kochen and 'Dro' Fernández enabled in La Liga, with reserve team records. For its part, in the official list of the first team for the UEFA Champions League, none of them were enabled, while Bardghji appears with the number '28'.

In this regard, the player expressed his peace of mind about an issue (the financial one) that the club has not yet managed to resolve definitively. "I don't know if it can be called a problem, but they have been having difficulties registering players for several years. It hasn't only happened this year," explained the 19-year-old player.

Beyond the issue of his registration, the former Copenhagen striker was happy about his arrival at Barça. "It's like a family. I haven't felt like this in other teams I've been on. The city and the club are fantastic," Bardghji pointed out. Will the Swede be able to debut against Valencia?