While Birmingham City fans may be excited by the prospect of a pre-season friendly match against Barcelona this year, they should temper it with an unwanted dose of reality.
Why? With the World Cup also taking place this summer, Barcelona could have a small squad heading to England in July.
A report in Spain today revealed that Barcelona are planning a two-week trip to England This summer, they will spend time at St. George's Park in England. Before this there will be a friendly match in Nairobi and then another match in Morocco.
Plan to spend time in St. George from July 27thth till 8th Augustth. And this will include a pre-season friendly against Birmingham City during the first few days of the training camp.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Blues were chosen due to their proximity to St. George's Park.
birmingham city spirit
Naturally, this news has caused quite a bit of excitement in the city of Birmingham. Their fans are waiting for the arrival of the Catalan giants. But sadly, due to the World Cup, only a limited team of Barcelona can make this journey.
For example, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Pau Quibarsi, Fermín López, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres are likely to be in the Spain squad.
Joan Garcia could also be one of the goalkeeping options while Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia, Mark Casado and Gavi could also get the nod.
Frenkie de Jong will also be in the Netherlands squad, while Jules Kounde should also be in the French squad. Joao Cancelo is also a regular for Portugal and Marcus Rashford is likely to be in the England squad. Raphinha will also be in the Brazilian team.
Who will be in the team?
So, that would leave Wojciech Szczesny and Diego Cochen in goal, with Andreas Christensen and Gerard Martin in defence.
Marc Bernal should be available, and Robert Lewandowski should be up front. But the latter's contract expires this summer, and the 37-year-old has been heavily linked with a departure.
In fact, his agent is meeting Barcelona for talks this week. In recent times the Catalan media have been more inclined towards Lewandowski's stay than before. There's every possibility that he's going to be the biggest star of the show.
Various players could also return from loan deals, such as Hector Forte, Iñaki Pena and Ansu Fati. But this remains to be seen.
Now apparently the World Cup is ending on 19th JulythTherefore the above absent players will not be in the tournament at that time. But the trip to England is only eight days after the final. Therefore, if Spain, one of the favourites, gets that far, a big contingent will be missing.
Of course, this is just speculation at this point. But Birmingham City fans may want to curb any hopes of seeing Barcelona's full, current squad at St Andrews.
