Nico is already a member of the first team: an end to the risk of improper alignment

Barcelona has officially registered Nico González as a first team player, according to the website of the Professional Football League (LFP). In this way, the Galician midfielder, who has played the first part of the season with Barcelona B, officially becomes part of the Barça first team as a player.

At 20 years old, Nico González has established himself this season as a key player in the face of multiple casualties in the first team. Under the orders first of Ronald Koeman and later of Xavi Hernández, this versatile midfielder has played a total of 23 games between LaLiga, the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

His registration together with Pablo Páez Gavira ‘Gavi’, who still has a subsidiary file, is one of Xavi Hernández’s objectives in this winter market so as not to be limited to the directive of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) that requires teams to have a minimum of seven first-team players on the pitch. This regulation has prevented Xavi from fielding more players from the subsidiary in some sections of the season, when his team accumulated casualties due to injury and positives for coronavirus.

Nico, the ‘heir’ of Coutinho

FC Barcelona has confirmed that Nico González, who to date wore number 28, will inherit Phlippe Coutinho’s ’14’. After the Brazilian’s departure for Aston Villa and the announcement of the incorporation as a first team player for the Blaugrana youth squad, Nico will from now on use one of the two numbers that Coutinho wore during his time at Can Barça.