FC Barcelona brought their preseason training camp at St. George's Park to a close on Monday after several weeks of intensive work. Following the end of the camp, Hansi Flick gave a very positive assessment of the team's stay in England.

"It has been a great experience" he said. "The conditions have been excellent and everything has gone really well."

One of the aspects that has most pleased the coaching staff has been the performances of the reserve-team players during the training camp. "I think this season we have more quality among the first-team players and also among the youngsters from La Masia" said the German. "Ebrima is an extraordinary talent, and so is Orian. Espart played at full-back against Birmingham and had a very good game. They are all performing at a very high level in training."

Flick also spoke positively about Bisiwu's first few days with the first team: "He is a very talented player. The plan is for him to keep training with us."

On Alejandro Balde, the coach explained that the full-back is continuing his gradual recovery and suggested he could return to action in the next friendly against Udinese.

Asked about Héctor Fort, Flick praised his qualities: "He's very quick and technically very good. I think he had a very good season at Elche last year."

New season with the same ambition

The coach also made it clear that the team remains as ambitious as ever following last season's successes. Having a squad accustomed to competing at the highest level is a major advantage: "Champions never stop. They know how to win titles, and that's very important. If you work hard and stay focused every day, you achieve special things in the end. That's exactly what we want to achieve this season."

On the footballing side, he highlighted how "we have plenty of options and we'll see how everything develops. Lamine Yamal is a fantastic player and can adapt. Gordon can also play on either wing and as a centre forward."

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