Carlos Cuesta García will remain as Parma head coach for the 2025-26 season, a development that carries direct consequences for Adrián Bernabé García, the gialloblù midfielder who has been one of the club's more consistent performers across a difficult campaign.
The significance for Bernabé is straightforward: continuity of management is the single most valuable commodity for a player in the middle of a developmental arc. At 25, the Spaniard is at the age where a settled tactical environment translates into measurable progress, and Cuesta's retention removes the uncertainty that a coaching change would have introduced heading into the summer.
The numbers from this season support the case for building around him. Bernabé appeared in 32 Serie A matches, contributing three goals and one assist while carrying an average rating of 7.00 — a figure that holds up respectably against the backdrop of a Parma side that finished 13th with 42 points, conceding 46 goals across 37 matches. The team's defensive frailty — nearly 1.25 goals allowed per game — placed enormous pressure on the midfield to generate and protect leads that rarely materialised. That Bernabé maintained a 7.00 average in those conditions is not a trivial detail.
His AI overall score of 72 out of 100, with a projected ceiling of 76, suggests a player who has not yet reached his ceiling but is close enough to it that the margin for improvement is defined rather than speculative. Cuesta, who has now watched him across a full league season, is better placed than any incoming coach to extract that remaining headroom.
Parma also moved to strengthen the squad, activating a €4m option to sign Benja Cremaschi from Inter Miami — a signing that adds depth in the attacking midfield zone. Whether Cremaschi's arrival reshapes Bernabé's role or simply raises the competitive standard around him, Bernabé enters pre-season with the advantage of familiarity and a coach who has already chosen to stay.