Barcelona have suffered an injury setback involving one of their most promising young players, with 16-year-old Ibrahima Tounkara expected to spend around six weeks on the sidelines. 

The setback comes at an unfortunate time for the youngster, who had impressed during the club’s pre-season preparations and was preparing for an important campaign with Barcelona Atlètic. 

Toungara sustained the ankle injury during Barcelona Atlètic’s friendly against Vilanova, forcing him to leave the pitch after appearing to be in discomfort.

He underwent medical examinations on Monday, with the results reportedly confirming that he faces an estimated five-week recovery period. 

The injury is particularly frustrating given the progress Toungara had made during the summer. 

After completing part of Barcelona’s first-team pre-season program, he returned to training with the reserve side and had already featured in several friendly matches under manager Hansi Flick. 

Flick had reportedly been impressed by the teenager’s performances in training and during pre-season fixtures. 

Tounkara was handed three friendly appearances by the first-team coach, in addition to playing in the Joan Gamper Trophy with Barcelona’s academy side, further highlighting the club’s confidence in his development. 

The timing of the injury means Tounkara could miss approximately the first five matches of the season for Barcelona Atlètic. 

If his rehabilitation progresses as expected, he could be in contention to return around early October, although the club will be expected to avoid rushing the highly rated youngster back into action. 

Toungara’s emergence has also attracted interest from several European clubs, but the teenager and those around him reportedly chose to remain committed to Barcelona’s long-term project. 

With the Catalan club viewing him as one of its leading young talents capable of eventually breaking into the first team, his recovery will now be closely monitored as he looks to resume his rapid development and perhaps a last-minute dash into the transfer market for reinforcement.