Former Barcelona youth coach reveals key to Fermin Lopez's progress

Oscar Lopez highlighted the consistency that has characterised Fermin's progression, with the 21-year-old now an established figure under manager Hansi Flick.

"Fermin is a player who always performs," Lopez told SPORT.

"He was already performing well years ago, when he was physically weaker and found it very hard."

Fermin's physical growth has been an important part of his development, while improvements in his movement and technical ability have also enhanced his contribution. He has consequently become an increasingly important attacking option for Barcelona.

However, his path was not always straightforward. Fermin faced physical limitations during his youth career, making his development more challenging than it might otherwise have been.

"His physical limitations have meant he has had to work in a unique way on his resilience and many footballing details, such as running into space and other technical aspects like playing one-touch or multi-touch football, shooting and a thousand other things," he added.

"He knows how to link up with others and make the most of his physique, something he exploits to the full, whether he plays for ten minutes or starts the match."

According to Oscar Lopez, those difficulties encouraged the midfielder to improve other aspects of his game while continuing to build his physical strength. He believes that process ultimately helped Fermin become a more complete footballer.