Young Ghana defender Hafiz Gariba trains with Barcelona first team for pre-season

[p]The 19-year-old centre-back reported to the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper on Monday to undergo the club’s routine medical examinations, before the squad began its first training session of the 2026/27 campaign on Tuesday under head coach Hansi Flick.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gariba-hafiz/00hdv2te/"]Gariba[/a] was one of 15 academy players called up to work with the first team, alongside 10 senior professionals, a group that included Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Wojciech Szczesny, Alejandro Balde, Andreas Christensen, Fermín Lopez, Marc Casado, Gerard Martin, Marc Bernal, Hector Fort and Roony Bardghji.[/p][embed guid="61666545-ebbb-4d9f-9fd0-d681241c5cb3" url="https://x.com/_owurakuampofo/status/2076794707724648603?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The opportunity comes on the back of a breakout 2025/26 season with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a]’s youth teams. Promoted from Juvenil B to Juvenil A midway through the campaign, Gariba established himself as one of the most reliable central defenders in the academy, made over 20 appearances for the U-19 side, and was a key figure in their triumphant National Youth League title run.[/p][p][b]He also featured for Barcelona in the UEFA Youth League, often showcasing his composure on the ball and physical presence against some of the best European youth sides.[/b][/p][p]His rise from Teshie, on Ghana’s coastal belt, to a Barcelona pre-season squad has been remarkable in its speed.[/p][p]Gariba began his football journey with local side Zinaps FC before moving to Villarreal CF Africa, where his performances earned him a place at the prestigious Marcet Soccer Academy in Spain.[/p][p]Barcelona scouts tracked him for months at Marcet before offering him a three-year deal with the Juvenil B side in February 2025. Little over a year later, he is training with the first team.[/p][p]The inclusion has been helped by circumstances at the top of the club. A significant number of Barcelona’s senior internationals including Ronald Araújo, Frenkie de Jong, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, Eric Garcia, and Pau Cubarsi featuring at the 2026 World Cup.[/p][p][b]That has thinned the first-team group in the opening weeks of pre-season and opened the door for a wider intake of La Masia players to work directly with Flick and his coaching staff.[/b][/p][p]Gariba himself has spoken about his ambition to break into the senior side. In an exclusive interview with Flashscore earlier this year, he said his focus for the 2026/27 season was to “fight so I get recognised and promoted to the senior team,” and identified Barcelona senior centre-back Pau Cubarsí as his role model at the club.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.com.gh/news/soccer-laliga-exclusive-ghana-defender-hafiz-gariba-opens-up-on-his-barcelona-move/CUUBwgz3/" target="_blank"]EXCLUSIVE: Ghana defender Hafiz Gariba opens up on his Barcelona move[/a][/p][h2]Barcelona’s pre-season schedule[/h2][p]Barcelona will play their first pre-season fixture on July 24, when they host CE Europa in a closed-door friendly at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper.[/p][p]The squad will then travel to England for a week-long training camp at St. George’s Park from July 27 to August 3, during which they will face Birmingham City at St. Andrew’s Stadium on Friday, July 31. A second, behind-closed-doors fixture is scheduled against Preston North End on August 3.[/p][p]Barcelona are also expected to take part in a triangular tournament from August 8, with Udinese and Nottingham Forest touted as the potential opponents, before staging their traditional Joan Gamper Trophy match on the weekend of August 15-16.[/p][p][b]The Blaugrana then open their LaLiga title defence at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ath-bilbao-IP5zl0cJ/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/?mid=0Atuqenl"]home against Athletic Club on Sunday, August 16[/a] at Spotify Camp Nou.[/b][/p][p]Whether Gariba will feature in any of those pre-season friendlies remains to be seen, but the invitation to train with the first team is the clearest signal yet from the club that the young Ghanaian is very much on Flick’s radar as the new season approaches.[/p][image alt="Owuraku Ampofo" id="345f5fd0-6a26-4f45-8078-6462582c5da7" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="bcbe56d6-5a8b-411a-9c69-08726f1fcf3b" original-width="1200" original-height="381" /]