Hansi Flick has named Raphinha as Barcelona’s interim captain for the start of the 2026-27 season, with Eric Garcia and Pedri completing a provisional leadership trio while the club waits on a definitive squad vote.
Flick confirms the interim armband holders
Speaking to Barcelona’s official media, as reported by Barca Universal, Flick explained that he does not want to hold a final captaincy vote until the first-team squad is fully settled. Raphinha will therefore lead the group for now, with Eric Garcia and Pedri named alongside him as the squad’s provisional captains ahead of Wednesday’s Gamper Trophy meeting with Al Ahly.
The Brazilian winger will address the Camp Nou crowd before that game, stepping in for Frenkie de Jong, who is normally next in line but remains sidelined by the medial collateral ligament injury he sustained at the World Cup.
Why the hierarchy needed reshaping
The departures of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo this summer stripped Barcelona of two senior figures from their previous captaincy order, forcing Flick’s hand on an interim solution. Combined with De Jong’s unavailability, that left the club without an obvious incumbent to carry the armband into preseason, prompting the club’s move to install Raphinha at the front of the queue rather than wait on De Jong’s recovery.
Flick stresses nothing is final
Flick was explicit that this is a temporary measure rather than a settled hierarchy. He said he had decided to wait on holding the formal vote because the squad is not yet closed, with further arrivals or departures still possible before the transfer window shuts. Until that business is done, he added, Raphinha will serve as captain alongside Eric Garcia and Pedri.
That caveat matters: once the squad is finalised, players will vote on the permanent captaincy order, and De Jong could still be placed above Raphinha in the later vote. OneFootball’s account of the same comments confirms Flick’s framing of the arrangement as strictly provisional.
What happens next
Barcelona are expected to hold the definitive captaincy vote closer to the end of the summer window, once the squad is settled. Until then, Raphinha carries the armband into the Gamper Trophy and the opening weeks of the campaign.
