Missing a World Cup is supposed to be the worst thing that can happen to a forward in his mid-twenties. Karim Adeyemi has spent this pre-season quietly making the case for the opposite. While half of Hansi Flick’s squad was still decompressing after a summer in the United States, the German was already six weeks into a proper block of work — and on Sunday night in Switzerland it showed. A Karim Adeyemi Barcelona start in the LaLiga opener now looks less like a reward for pre-season form and more like the logical selection.
Mundo Deportivo reports that the 24-year-old is the favourite to line up at Elche on Sunday 23 August, ahead of Anthony Gordon, who has had fewer training sessions and less competitive rhythm behind him. If that holds, Flick will begin the defence of the title with a front three of three left-footers.
What the Karim Adeyemi Barcelona pre-season has actually looked like
The timeline explains a lot. The Bundesliga finished on 16 May, Adeyemi was not at the World Cup, and his move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund was wrapped up quickly enough that he could report to Flick on 24 July — a full month before the league starts. Barca paid €22 million plus a possible €7 million in add-ons, and he signed through to 2031.
He has grown into the summer rather than exploded into it. The high point came in Sunday’s friendly at Basel, where he played 79 minutes of the 5-2 win and had a hand in the two goals that set the tone. He opened the scoring by drifting in from the right and arriving in the centre-forward’s zone to finish Raphinha’s pass with his left foot, then broke down the left, carried it to the byline and picked out Hamza Abdelkarim at the back post.
A left-footed front three, and what it does to Raphinha
The tactical detail is the interesting part. Mundo Deportivo notes that Adeyemi operated on the right in the first half, with Raphinha as a false nine and Gordon on the opposite flank, then switched to the left after the break with Abdelkarim through the middle. He was effective in both roles.
The clue may have come on 65 minutes. When Lamine Yamal came on, the 19-year-old took the right and Adeyemi stayed on the left — the shape MD expects at Elche, with Raphinha dropping into the false nine between them. That is a front three of three left-footers, all of whom want to cut inside, and it is the sort of arrangement that only works if one of them is willing to spend the game running in behind. On Sunday’s evidence, Adeyemi is happy to be that man.
It is also a reminder of the gap Ferran Torres left behind when he joined PSG. Barca have not replaced their departed number nine with another number nine; they have replaced him with movement, and the man leading the line at Elche may well be a winger.
Nothing is settled yet
Two caveats are worth keeping. Gordon is only a few weeks behind, and a fit, sharp Gordon is a €70 million signing with Premier League end product — this is a competition, not a coronation. And pre-season goals against Basel are pre-season goals. Flick has warned before that Barca could be slow out of the blocks, and a friendly in Switzerland proves less than a Sunday night in Elche will.
Still, the point of a summer like Adeyemi’s is to arrive at the first whistle further forward than everyone else. He has. Barca’s LaLiga opener at Elche kicks off at 21:30 on Sunday, and the German who spent his July working while others rested looks like the man who will start it.
