Barcelona thrash Basel 5-2, but Flick says the squad isn't complete yet

Five goals on the board, a 5-2 rout of Basel, and underneath it all, a question still without a clear answer: is Barcelona's squad actually finished? Hansi Flick made it plain on Sunday that it isn't, even after a summer transfer window that's already been fairly busy.

The German coach, speaking after the club's second to last preseason friendly, didn't dodge the question when asked about the state of the roster. There's no room for distraction with the schedule bearing down on them.

We might still be missing something. I think we need one more piece; we'll see this week. What matters most is how we train. We have to work hard to keep up the level of the past seasons.Hansi Flick

Those words carry weight because they come right as Barca closes in on one of the summer's biggest deals: the signing of Rodri from Manchester City. The Spanish midfielder, a key figure in City's title run and with the national team, would slot into a midfield Flick wants to reinforce with authority and control over the game.

But Rodri wouldn't be the only new face in the Barca locker room. So far this window, the club has already brought in Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu, and is still working to close a deal for Joao Cancelo. It's a long list, but the transfer business isn't fully wrapped up: according to ESPN, Barca is still chasing a center forward, a position left open after Robert Lewandowski's departure and, more recently, that of Ferran Torres, who scored the goal that gave Spain the title at the 2026 World Cup.

Focus already shifting to Elche

As for the match in Switzerland itself, Flick deliberately downplayed it as "just one more test" in preseason preparation. No grand conclusions to be drawn from a friendly. The focus, he stressed, is already on next Sunday's league opener against Elche.

Before that, there's still one more important date: on Wednesday, Camp Nou hosts Egypt's Al Ahly in the traditional Joan Gamper Trophy. It's a match that serves as a final gauge before the games that truly count get underway.

What worries Flick most isn't so much the results of these friendlies, but arriving with enough physical sharpness and team cohesion to avoid stumbling in the opening matchday. In fact, he warned weeks ago that he doesn't expect to see the team at its best until late September, which makes sense given how many new pieces still need to fit together.

"It's not an easy task, since a lot of players have joined only recently," Flick admitted, well aware that the World Cup run also left several players at different points of form. Fitting all of that together, against the clock and with the transfer market still open, is the real challenge facing Barca before LaLiga kicks off.