Xavi and Barcelona, with nine absentees for the start of pre-season

Barcelona's board of directors officially announced that the pre-season will begin on 4th July under the orders of Xavi Hernandez. On that date, the squad will have to report for medical examinations before the start of the activity.

However, not everyone will have to be present at this first meeting. With the coach's approval, international players who have commitments with their respective national teams may be absent for the first few days.

This means that those who are playing in the UEFA Nations League or a friendly match at the moment will have a few more days rest and will only join the team when Xavi orders them to do so. The idea of the coaching staff is that they recover their energy and have the same days off as the rest of the squad.

Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Ferran Torres, Memphis Depay, Ronald Araujo, Dani Alves and Frenkie de Jong are the players who will not be in the first days of training at Barca's Ciudad Deportiva.

Ansu Fati, who has not had any playing time with Spain, will be present with the Barcelona squad on 4th July, as will Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who decided not to take part in Germany's call-up so as not to further compromise his fitness.

Meanwhile, the players who have possibilities of leaving the Catalan club will also have to attend the pre-season while they define their future. This is the case of Martin Braithwaite, Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet, Riqui Puig or Oscar Mingueza, among others.