Barcelona teenager Ibrahima Tunkara is emerging as a surprise contender for a first-team place under new head coach Hansi Flick, after the 16-year-old midfielder’s performances in pre-season left senior players and staff stunned.
The Spain youth international, who is of Gambian origin and was born in 2010, is the only player of his age group included in Flick’s main pre-season squad. Club sources cited by Catalan newspaper Sport say his level in training has been so striking that Barcelona are now seriously weighing up keeping him with the senior side rather than sending him to the B team as originally planned.
Flick is understood not to have hesitated when adding Tunkara to the sizeable group of academy and young players invited to start pre-season with the first team. Those same reports suggest the midfielder quickly stood out thanks to an imposing physical frame for his age, allied with notable technical ability and power.
Several first-team players, who had not trained with him extensively before this summer, have reportedly been taken aback by his quality and impact in sessions.
Instant impact in first pre-season friendly
Tunkara turned his eye-catching training displays into a decisive contribution in Barcelona’s opening pre-season friendly, a 4-1 win over CE Europa on Friday.
Coming off the bench at the Tito Vilanova training ground, he needed only three minutes to score Barcelona’s third goal. After collecting a pass from Alex Gonzalez, Tunkara drove forward and finished with what has been described as a spectacular strike, despite being tightly marked by defenders.
The goal came after Flick made wholesale changes to his starting XI at half-time, underlining the German coach’s willingness to reward what he had already seen from the youngster on the training pitch.
First team stay now a real possibility
Tunkara is fully aware that he is at the very beginning of his career and that the initial plan for the coming season is for him to feature with Barcelona’s B team.
However, his standout pre-season has reportedly opened the door to alternative scenarios, including the option of remaining with the first-team squad. That possibility is being considered in the context of current absences through injury to Ronald Araujo, Alejandro Balde and Fermin, as well as the anticipated loan of Marc-Andre ter Stegen to Ajax Amsterdam.
Flick is preparing to take his squad to England for the next phase of their pre-season schedule and intends to keep the core group that has worked with him from the start of summer.
That continuity is partly enforced by the continued absence of several internationals, with all the Spanish players, Jules Kounde and Gordon still on holiday following the 2026 World Cup.
La Masia’s latest standout
According to the same club sources, Flick is expected to maintain close scrutiny of Tunkara during the upcoming tour, conscious that the midfielder still has a great deal to learn at his age but also convinced of his significant potential.
Within the club, Tunkara is increasingly being spoken of as one of the most exciting prospects to emerge from La Masia in recent years, a talent seen as capable of dominating headlines in the near future.
Despite being the youngest member of Barcelona’s current pre-season group, his physical strength and high technical level have reportedly enabled him to outperform several older players in training and in match action.
Those inside Barcelona view that combination as a strong indication that the club may have uncovered its next rising star from its famed youth academy – with Flick’s early faith suggesting Tunkara’s pathway to the elite could accelerate faster than originally planned.
