In Spain, they praise Oriyan Goren: "He passed Flick's test and earned his trust"
The Catalan website 'Sport' is impressed by the Israeli talent, who has already received minutes in preparation matches against Birmingham and Udinese — and the Spanish champions do not rule out a first-team debut during the season.
The Spanish media continues to marvel at Oriyan Goren. The 17-year-old Israeli talent, who made several appearances for the Barcelona first team during the pre-season, managed to impress coach Hansi Flick and remain in the senior squad even after several roster cuts.
On the 'Sport' website, which is associated with Barcelona, a report was published on Friday indicating that Goren "passed the test" with Flick and managed to get on the German coach's radar. As evidence, a month into the preparation for the new season, only a small number of academy players are still training with the seniors — and Goren is one of them. This is a significant achievement for the Israeli, especially considering his age.
Goren, born in 2009, was, along with Ibrima Tonkara (born 2010), among the two youngest players to join the first team's training in mid-July. Since then, he has managed to survive the selection processes that Barcelona conducts during the pre-season. After the training camp in England, several youngsters, including Ibrahim Diarra, Alex Gonzalez, and Oscar Gistau, moved to Barcelona Atletic, the reserve team of the Spanish champions. Goren, on the other hand, remained with the first team and even traveled with it to Italy for a tournament in Udine.
Goren received 30 minutes in the match against Udinese, after playing the same amount of time against Birmingham. After the match against the latter, he even received direct compliments from Flick, who chose him as one of the three youngsters who impressed him the most during the training camp. The German coach mentioned Goren alongside Tonkara and Javi Aspart and emphasized the quality that the three demonstrate in training and matches.
"Although he is only 17, Goren demonstrates exceptional maturity on the pitch, along with vision and natural ability that make him a prominent player in the senior team environment," 'Sport' emphasizes.
The website notes that he continues to gain experience under Flick and that the coach and his staff are closely monitoring his development. Goren joined Barcelona in 2022, after playing in the youth department of Maccabi Petah Tikva, and has since gone through the development path at La Masia. He also lives in the academy complex, which allows him to combine football with his studies.
