Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has said "tough work" is needed if Ansu Fati is to regain his place in the team after once again leaving the forward out of the squad for Sunday's 4-1 win at Sevilla in LaLiga.
Fati played 29 minutes in Barça's first game of 2025, a Copa del Rey tie against fourth-tier Barbastro, but he has not featured in the following 10 fixtures.
Flick has left him out of the squad entirely in six of those matches and told him in January he could look for a new club if he wanted.
"I spoke with him really honestly," Flick said in a news conference. "But it's not like you speak with the coach and then everything is different [straight away].
"What I can say is that he's on a really good way. He's close to the team. This is the important thing.
"I saw a lot of situations from him [in the past] when he was on the top, top level and this level, I think we try to reach again. This is, yeah, it's tough work for us, and also for him, but he's doing good and is close to the team."
Flick had spoke glowingly about Fati upon becoming Barça coach last summer, but injuries have once again disrupted the Spain international's season.
A foot injury caused him to miss the first five games of the campaign and he sat out another six matches with a muscle problem in November and December.
In total, he has made eight appearances in all competitions under Flick, with just one of them coming as a starter.
For those reasons, sources explained to ESPN that Flick opened the door for Fati to leave on loan in January, but the player preferred to stay and fight for his place.
After breaking into the first team as a 16-year-old, Fati's development has been severely hampered by a series of serious injuries.
He spent last season on loan at Premier League side Brighton, where a calf issue restricted him to 27 appearances across the course of the campaign.
His path to a first team spot at Barça is currently blocked by Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, with Ferran Torres, Pau Víctor and Pablo Torre among some of the other players preferred to him when rotation is needed in attack.
Barça's win at Sevilla on Sunday reignited the title race in LaLiga. Just two points now separate the three teams at the top of the table, with Real Madrid first, Atlético Madrid second and Barça third.