Barcelona talent, Ilias Akhomach, who is regarded as one of the brightest talents of La Masia, is set to leave the Catalan club after his contract ends on June 30 as he already confirmed his intention not to renew with Barcelona a long time ago, with Villarreal ready to pounce on the situation and convince the youngster for a move to Castellón.
The 19-year-old made his debut among the seniors of Barcelona in a 1-0 win against Espanyol on 20 November 2021, the first game of Xavi Hernández as the manager. Since then, however, the promising youngster hardly got any significant playtime, only featuring thrice in the first team of the Blaugrana.
This season, Akhomach has not participated under the orders of Xavi, while even the 15-year-old fellow La Masia gem, Lamine Yamal also jumped ahead of him in the pecking order. Not to say that, the winger position is the best-covered role in the Catalan squad, with the likes of Dembélé, Raphinha, Torres, and Fati all competing for the starting spots.
Thus, a move away from Catalonia seems the obvious choice as the youngster is eager to show his quality in the top flight and get significant playtime on a competitive level. Accordingly, the 19-year-old had several offers on the table from several European clubs, but now, Villarreal seem to be the frontrunners in the race for his signature, as reported by RELEVO.
According to Relevo, the Yellow Submarine has been in talks trying to convince the Spanish Under-19 international to choose them as his next destination. The youngster has many suitors from England and Italy who would outperform Villarreal’s offer, but their sports project seems very appealing to the footballer, while his entourage also value the Villarreal option highly.
Two things that Ilias particularly likes about Villarreal are the club’s firm commitment to young players as well as the fact that the subsidiary competes in the Segunda División. The youngster understands that it would be difficult to have regular minutes in the top flight at just 19, that’s why it is important to have the second team in a league of higher-level competition.
Villarreal’s plan for him is for him to be in first-team dynamics, playing regularly with Setién’s men and training day-to-day under the ex-Barcelona coach’s orders, but with the subsidiary option open so that he can get top-level minutes even when he’s not going to participate with the first team.
