An up-and-coming member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona has revealed his appreciation for recent praise sent in his direction by club president Joan Laporta.
The player in question? Marc Casadó.
Midfielder Casadó, for his part, has seen his name take its place front and centre in the media chatter in Catalunya’s capital over the course of the last week.
This comes amid the widespread understanding that the 20-year-old’s name is being pushed by those behind the scenes in Barcelona, to play a prominent role in the setup of new head coach Hansi Flick.
Amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of Blaugrana captain Sergi Roberto, Casadó has been tipped to make the step up to first-team regular next season.
And such plans were all but confirmed by the aforementioned Joan Laporta late last week, upon Barca’s president being drawn on the club’s plans to reinforce the base of their midfield moving forward.
“It is a position in which an addition must be made and players from Barca Atlètic will be promoted, such as Marc Casadó, who is having a phenomenal season,” explained Laporta on ‘The President’s Podcast’ on Barça One, as cited by Mundo Deportivo.
And such comments, evidently, did not go at all unnoticed on the part of Casadó himself.
Speaking in the aftermath of playing his part in Barca Atlètic booking their spot in the promotion playoff final over the weekend, the youngster was asked about Laporta’s recent praise.
And Casadó went on to admit that he was left nothing short of ‘shocked’ by as much:
“President Laporta directly praising me in his last interview? For me, it’s incredible. When I saw it I was shocked. I am very happy that the club has that much trust in me.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
