Samper lined up for first team action

The injury that will keep Andrés Iniesta out for a few weeks forces Luis Enrique to search for options at Barça B, and he has finally called up a guy we all want.

Sergi Samper, the B-team star and highly rated Blaugrana prospect, joined the first team players on Wednesday for the first training session after the 2-1 Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen, along with youth squad teammates Gerard Gumbau, Juan Cámara and David Babunski. All four are midfielders, and two of them are likely to be selected for the weekend La Liga match against Sevilla on Saturday.

Gumbau has been the preferred choice after Rafinha Alcântara went down with a severe knee injury, with Samper staying as a key component of the Barça B group playing the Spainsh third division. However, with iniesta’s absence, one more spot opens up at midfield, and Samper is in contention to be on the squad for a tough clash on the road.

Samper traveled with the squad for the United States preseason tour, but got very few (yet productive) minutes and didn’t get a promotion to The Show, as initially expected. But if given an opportunity to be with the big boys until Iniesta returns, he could prove to his coach why he’s one of the best young midfielders La Masía has created in recent years.

But Lucho will probably call Cámara or Babunski. He must confuse Samper with one of them.