Barcelona's 17-Year-Old Prodigy: Dro's Journey to Strength and Muscle Gain (2026)

Just 17 years old, Pedro Fernandez ‘Dro’ has already carved out a place for himself in Hansi Flick’s Barcelona first-team dynamics this season.

Having first been called up to training towards the end of the previous campaign, the 17-year-old continued in the senior setup this summer in the pre-season and has featured in the matchday squad for all three La Liga matches so far.

Dro begins specially tailored training programme

Even as he awaits his official debut for the Barcelona first team, SPORT reports that Dro has today started a specific training plan to gain muscle and adapt to the demands of the Spanish top flight.

Following the plan designed by the medical staff to help him gain muscle and power, the midfielder has begun specific sessions aimed at strengthening his physique and preparing him increasingly for professional football.

At the club, they emphasise that the La Masia gem has already started to complement group training with individual exercises focused on building strength and endurance, with the aim of reaching the highest level.

Staff delighted with Dro

Hansi Flick and the coaching staff are delighted with Dro’s progress and are convinced of the enormous potential that the young player, who was one of the great revelations of pre-season, possesses.

What has surprised both teammates and the staff is not only his quality with the ball, which he possesses in abundance, but also the maturity with which he moves around the midfield despite his young age.

Dro interprets the game very well, knows when to accelerate and when to pause, and transmits calm in moments of pressure.

Now, the coaches want him to take another step forward physically and have already launched a plan to achieve this.

The idea is for him to follow the same path once taken by Pedri and Lamine Yamal, who also needed to reinforce this aspect. The objective is to build muscle mass and strengthen the physical component that is increasingly important in elite football.