While the likes of Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi are receiving the most plaudits for their performances at FC Barcelona, another youngster who has made a massive leap in quality in the current season is the midfielder, Fermin Lopez.
Lopez was playing for Linares in the Primera RFEF last season and got the opportunity to train and play with the first team last summer. Since the last pre-season, the midfielder has consolidated himself as one of the first-team players, and the club is seemingly quite happy with his development.
The club’s satisfaction with the player’s growth is so great that Barcelona are now thinking of changing the developmental process of their youth players to conform to the process followed by Fermin.
As Mundo Deportivo has reported, Barcelona are now thinking of sending their most promising young talents out on loan, so they can actually show that they can play for the first team.
This is in stark contrast to the practice previously followed by Barcelona, as the club allowed its talents to mature at home. But this new policy is more in line with how other big clubs across Europe approach their youth talent.
While players like Yamal and Cubarsi have been able to make the jump to the first team, Barcelona believes keeping youngsters at home during the period when they need a good quantity of minutes very often leads to stagnation in the growth of a lot of players.
The Catalans also believe that playing in different clubs and leagues is good for players’ mentality, as they are exposed to different environments and training conditions, which are not always as top-notch as those available at Barcelona.
This will also allow the players to gain more experience of playing in elite sides, while also having the door open to return to Barcelona if they can show that they are capable of donning the blue and garnet colors.
Similarly, with such a policy, Barcelona can retain control of their players till they reach 22 years of age, a period where their level can be assessed to a somewhat reliable degree.
