FC Barcelona will not be able to count on Lamine Yamal this Sunday against Valencia, but they will have Roony Bardghji. The 19-year-old forward missed the first three matchdays of LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26 for not having a federative license to play, a problem that the Blaugrana team was only able to solve on September 1, before the closing of the summer market.

Finally, the Swedish international was registered with a Barça Atlètic card and, for the moment, does not appear available in the official squad of the first team on the LaLiga website. However, Hansi Flick can call him up without problems and, if he considers it appropriate, make him debut at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.

Roony Bardghji can take advantage of Lamine Yamal's absence against Valencia

Roony Bardghji, FC Barcelona player

And, with the absence of Lamine Yamal, Roony will have many more options to see minutes on Sunday. The '10' was ruled out against Valencia due to a pubic injury, which means he will miss his first game of the 25/26 season.

In the first three matchdays, the Mataró native played all possible minutes (270), adding 2 goals and 2 assists. Now, Flick will have to decide who will take his place on Sunday, with Raphinha having the best options to return to the right side.

Alternatively, Marcus Rashford can also be an interesting solution to occupy Lamine's position in the XI. Whether on the right or left, it is very likely that the Englishman will start alongside the Brazilian, accompanying Ferran Torres in the offensive trident.

However, Bardghji will be ready on the bench to lend a hand if the game allows it. The Kuwait native scored a goal against Vissel Kobe in the preseason. In addition, he saw minutes (147) in the four summer friendlies, demonstrating that he can be very useful as a replacement in attack this season.

Although he is not as explosive as Lamine on the wing, Roony is a very intelligent player to generate and take advantage of spaces attacking from the right. He also has a good shot and, in the preseason, he looked very comfortable in the 4-2-3-1 offensive scheme that Flick uses in each game.

Bardghji, ready to fight for a place in Flick's Barça

Understanding that Valencia will base their options of rescuing a positive result at the Johan Cruyff with a very defensive approach, reducing spaces between the lines by retreating near their goal, Bardghji can take advantage of the wear and tear of the 'che' defense in the second half thanks to his youth and the desire to shine in a debut that has taken longer than expected.

Beyond missing the first three matchdays of La Liga, the Swede never had doubts about his continuity and trusts, starting on Sunday, to gradually earn his place in Hansi Flick's rotation plan. While he remains registered with a reserve team card, the forward will wear the number '28', which Marc Bernal used last season.