After having completed the signings of Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi earlier in the summer, FC Barcelona have completed another two very exciting signings in recent days, namely, Rodri Hernandez from Manchester City and [Joao Cancelo, who joins after having terminated his contract with Al-Hilal](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/official-barcelona-confirm-joao-cancelo-as-fifth-summer-signing/).
There is no doubt that all of these, especially the latter two, are very exciting additions to Hansi Flick’s squad. However, keeping in view the fact that the Blaugranes have their first match of the 2026-27 season scheduled to take place only in two days, it remains to be seen whether Rodri or Cancelo will be able to play in this game.
Meanwhile, as [SPORT](https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/plan-especifico-barca-rodri-133538998) has noted, both these players are already training at the Barcelona facilities. Rodri carried out his first training session at the Ciutat Esportiva on Friday, but he did his training away from the group. Although he had participated in the warm up ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy game with the rest of the team, he is following a special training plan, because it has only been a few days since he returned from holidays.
The midfielder recently assured the media that the back surgery he underwent recently was not a serious intervention, and he will be ready to play once he has trained under Flick for a few days. For now, his participation in the game against Elche is not entirely ruled out, but the German coach is not going to take any risks with any of his players, especially one as important as Rodri.
Meanwhile, Joao Cancelo trained with the rest of his teammates, but it remains to be seen whether Flick will name him in the squad for the Elche game. Even if he is at his best level, he might not be able to play as Barcelona have not yet registered him or any of their other new signings with La Liga.