Karim Adeyemi Joins FC Barcelona Training
The wait is over. After more than a week in limbo, Karim Adeyemi has finally stepped onto the training pitch as an FC Barcelona player under Hansi Flick.
The German winger has been in the city since last week, watching and waiting while the final signatures and registrations dragged on behind the scenes. He could meet his future teammates, walk through the facilities, pose for the cameras — but not train with the group. Not properly. Not as one of them.
That changed on Thursday. Barça officially unveiled Adeyemi, the 24-year-old posing alongside president Joan Laporta before addressing the media for the first time as a Barça footballer. The photos were done, the shirt was on, the words were spoken. Now came the part that really matters.
First real day at work
On Friday morning, just before 8:45 a.m., Adeyemi arrived at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper with a different status and a different feeling. No longer a guest, no longer a player-in-waiting. A fully registered member of Hansi Flick’s squad.
He already knew the faces in the dressing room from his days hanging around the training ground while the paperwork cleared. This time, though, he pulled on the club training gear and joined the full session, working under Flick for the first time and starting the process of adapting to the German coach’s demands.
It was a first step: building rhythm, understanding pressing triggers, timing runs, learning where and how Flick wants his wide forwards to attack space. For a player whose game is built on speed and directness, those details will decide how quickly he can make a mark.
No rush into Europa friendly
The temptation might be to throw him straight in. New signing, new energy, a behind-closed-doors friendly against CE Europa on Friday evening. But Barcelona are resisting that urge.
After just one full session, Adeyemi is not expected to feature in the match, as reported by SPORT. The logic is clear. There is no need to gamble on freshness or fitness in a low-key run-out when a long season awaits. The club want him integrated, not improvised.
So while his teammates line up against the Primera RFEF side, Adeyemi is likely to join the list of absentees that already includes Ronald Araújo, Alejandro Balde and Hafiz Gariba. His real audition will have to wait a few more days.
England tour offers the real stage
That stage should arrive in England. With a trip across the Channel on the horizon, Barcelona’s pre-season schedule opens a more suitable door for Adeyemi to announce himself on the pitch.
On July 31, Barça face Birmingham City in a friendly that carries more weight than a closed session at home. It offers a proper opponent, a sharper tempo, and a better context to judge a new signing’s impact. Adeyemi is expected to get his chance there, a first opportunity to stretch his legs in blaugrana and show how his pace can change the dynamic of the front line.
Days later, another test: a behind-closed-doors encounter against Preston North End. Less glamour, same importance. Two games in quick succession in England could be decisive in carving out his role before the season begins — whether as an immediate starter or a high-impact option from the bench.
Fitness questions in the background
While Adeyemi enjoyed his first full session, Friday’s work at the Ciutat Esportiva also underlined the ongoing fitness concerns in the squad. Balde continued to train away from the main group, still on an individual plan as he builds towards full recovery. Araújo followed a similar path, also working alone as he edges back towards the level Flick will demand from his central defenders.
Those absences, combined with the cautious handling of Adeyemi, frame the early days of Flick’s first pre-season in charge. The German coach is trying to imprint his ideas while managing minutes, workloads and expectations.
For Adeyemi, though, the most important barrier has already fallen. The paperwork is done, the first session is in the legs, the new reality has begun.
The next question is simple: how quickly can he turn that long wait in Barcelona into something that changes the way this team attacks?
