Barcelona released its 24-man roster for its upcoming International Champions Cup tour of the United States, and there are two very big names not present.
Four-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi and Brazilian superstar Neymar are both missing from the roster, while Uruguayan attacker Luis Suarez does make the trip and young German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen will end his offseason early to highlight the 24 players.
Messi is currently vacationing in Turks & Caicos after losing in the finals of the Copa America, while Neymar was last seen in Las Vegas hanging out with Michael Jordan.
The strike pair aren’t the only notable names missing from the roster. Messi’s Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano is also a no-show, as is Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Meanwhile, new signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, who aren’t eligible to play competitively until January, will be on the flight across the Atlantic.
Highly rated Croatian midfielder Alen Halilovic, plus teammates Jose Suarez, Samper, and Gumbau are the four Barcelona B players who earned a call-up to the trip.
Barcelona will begin its ICC tour with a match against Steven Gerrard and the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, July 22. They then head just north to Santa Clara to take on Manchester United, before games against Chelsea and Fiorentina up to the end of August. They’ll return home to the Nou Camp for a friendly against AS Roma before their season starts in the European Supercup against Sevilla on August 11.
FULL BARCELONA SQUAD: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Masip, Jose Suarez, Aleix Vidal, Douglas, Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra, Thomas Vermaelen, Mathieu, Adriano, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Samper, Ivan Rakitic, Sergi Roberto, Gumbau, Andres Iniesta, Halilovic, Arda Turan, Rafinha, Pedro, Munir, Luis Suarez, Sandro.