Barcelona at St George’s Park: What did Hansi Flick’s team learn from week in England?

Imagine a Beatrix Potter illustration, replace the rabbits in aprons with a herd of dairy cows, and you’ve got the background to Barcelona’s training camp at St George’s Park.

The Spanish champions spent the past week at the facility where all of England’s national teams are based. The location, near Burton upon Trent in rural Staffordshire in the northern Midlands, and the atmosphere, surrounded by golden fields, cosy homes and nocturnal silence, were a marked difference from their pre-season tour to South Korea and Japan last year.

Speaking with locals, nobody seemed to even know that Barcelona were there (they stayed for eight days, arriving on July 27 and returning to Catalonia on Monday). That was exactly what Hansi Flick wanted.

With no fans lurking by the gates, and practically no distractions, for the German manager it was the ideal place to prepare for the new campaign, with Barca’s first La Liga fixture being away to Elche on August 23.

“I’d say it’s one of the best training camps I’ve ever been on,” the 61-year-old said at a press conference on Monday. “Conditions have been fantastic. Everything was very close by: the pitches, the facilities, and the grass was incredible.”

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. During their week in England, Barca could only play one friendly — a penalty shootout defeat by Championship side Birmingham City, after a 2-2 draw over 90 minutes, on Friday. A second game on Monday had to be cancelled after opponents Preston North End pulled out at the last minute.

Here, The Athletic sums up Barca’s time away — and looks ahead to what comes next.

Why did Barca choose St George’s Park?

For the previous four summers, Barcelona have opted for lucrative and busy summer trips to East Asia or the United States. But after last year’s tour, Flick made it clear to the club that he would prefer to avoid long flights and harsh summer conditions.

There were also options to go to Germany’s Black Forest region (near where Flick was born) and Scotland, but in the end they chose a third trip to St George’s Park (they also used it in 2014 and 2016).

The base for all England’s national teams has absolutely everything — which explains its popularity. Fellow La Liga side Valencia and Genoa of Italy have also been there this summer.

However, while Flick and his team relished getting down to work, some within the squad joked about the lack of entertainment — beyond snooker and table tennis.

“It’s great for the coaching staff, but for the players it’s almost like a prison,” joked a dressing room source, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment. “Yesterday we had a look, and the nearest place was an hour’s drive away. There’s nothing to do around here.”

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who spoke with The Athletic in an exclusive interview last week, was trying to focus on the positives, saying just before a press conference: “At least it’s colder than Barcelona!”

There was also something of a disconnect between the tranquillity of Staffordshire and the media circus that follows Barcelona everywhere they go.

“We’re used to seeing football teams round here, but not so many journalists,” said a waitress at The Bridge Inn, an Italian restaurant on the outskirts of nearby Burton.

Why did Barca only play one game?

The club lined up two friendlies for their week in the UK. The first, against Birmingham City at their St Andrew’s stadium, ended in a defeat on penalties after a 2–2 draw. The match was a sell-out — and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, who started his career with Birmingham, was in attendance.

The second was supposed to be a match against another side from England’s second tier, Preston North End, behind closed doors. It was due to be played on Monday afternoon, but ended up being called off.

Barcelona sources said this was because the English side did not have enough first-team players available.

They said the club were informed Preston did not want to take any risks, given they had a Carabao Cup first-round match against Huddersfield Town this Saturday. Preston were approached for comment.

Instead, Barca held a match between two teams from their own squad. It ended 1–1, with goals from Fermin Lopez and Xavi Espart.

Who impressed Hansi Flick?

When asked this question at his press conference on Monday, Flick highlighted Ebrima Tunkara, Orian Goren and Espart especially. But he also said the overall level of the group had impressed him — and there were lots of young faces in the travelling party, with several first-team players still on their holidays after World Cup duty.

“Ebrima is a great talent,” Flick said. “Orian Goren too. We’ve got plenty of players. Xavi (Espart) has played here as a right-back and did very well against Birmingham. But you can also see in training that he’s at a very high level right now. And there’s plenty more.”

If you ask around the club, it is a shared feeling.

One Barcelona source said Tunkara, a 16-year-old attacking midfielder, “could be the next Lamine Yamal”. He has been with Barca since the age of eight, progressing through the La Masia academy ranks to become a Spain youth international. Tunkara and Goren, a 17-year-old attacking midfielder from Israel who joined the club in 2023, were the youngest players to make the trip.

Brian Farinas is another who made an impression.

He is a 20-year-old defensive midfielder who might, following Frenkie de Jong’s knee injury, get some experience around the first team this season, although the Dutchman’s absence will be covered by other, more experienced players favoured by Flick, such as Marc Bernal, Gavi or Eric Garcia — who Barca initially wanted to play right-back this season.

Then there is Hamza Abdelkarim. The 18-year-old Egyptian striker scored both goals against Birmingham, having just played in four of his country’s five matches at the World Cup. He is a centre-forward, a type of player not typically found at La Masia, which rarely produces clinical finishers in the box.

Abdelkarim is seen as a long-term prospect, but the club want him to be integrated into the first-team group as a backup.

The Birmingham game also saw Karim Adeyemi make his first appearance after his transfer from Borussia Dortmund for an initial €22million (£18.8m; $25.3m), with add-ons potentially taking that beyond €30m.

What’s next for their pre-season preparations?

Barcelona’s next match is in an unusual three-way international fixture in Udine, Italy, against Nottingham Forest and Udinese on Saturday, August 8. Each club will face the other two for 45 minutes.

Then on Wednesday, August 19, they will play in the Joan Gamper Trophy – the annual friendly organised by Barcelona that serves as their season curtain-raiser. This year, the invited opponents at Camp Nou are 45-time Egyptian champions Al Ahly.

Previously, Barca had planned to play a further friendly against Moroccan club Ittihad Riadi in Tangier on August 15, but have confirmed the match has been delayed after the Ceuta migration crisis, sparked when 50,000 people rushed the Spain-Morocco border last week.

Meanwhile, those still on their post-World Cup breaks — including France’s Jules Kounde, Anthony Gordon of England and the eight players in Spain’s title-winning squad are due back on August 11 or 12.

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