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‘A great player’ – Barcelona boss Flick hails Galatasaray youngster

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has moved to reveal his appreciation for the talents of up-and-coming Galatasaray starlet Aleksey Batrakov.

This comes with the Russian having not been shy in making public his hopes of one day pulling on the colours of the Blaugrana.

Batrakov, for his part, is a 21-year-old midfielder, who chiefly lines out in an advanced role. The youngster took his talents to Istanbul this past summer, after establishing himself as a breakout star on the books of Lokomotiv Moscow.

Batrakov has since gone on to rack up five Süper Lig appearances for Galatasaray, featuring from the off this past weekend as the Turkish champions secured a return to winning ways at the expense of Kasımpaşa.

The 15-time capped Russian international bagged the assist for one of his side’s three goals, amid a fine all-round display.

And watching on all the while was none other than Barcelona boss Hansi Flick. Drawn on Batrakov’s talents ahead of his side’s Champions League showdown with Galatasaray on Tuesday, the German tactician admitted:

“I’ve seen many games, and after the last one, I have to say he’s a great player.”

Pressed further on the midfielder’s Blaugrana-shaped dream, Flick added:

“If you’re young and talented, why not dream? We have to try everything.”

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