La Masia and the subsidiary of FC Barcelona remains a great source of pride for La Blaugrana. The Catalan giants continue to rely on their academy and youth development to bring in talented stars into the team. Even in the current squad, many of the academy’s finest talents have cemented their place.
Moreover, beyond just stating this to be true, even the statistics seem to showcase this strength. La Masia has long been hailed as the finest footballing academy in Europe, and arguably the world. The ongoing Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia, in particular, showcases this strength at its finest.
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, the current iteration of the U-17 FIFA World Cup sees Barcelona top the charts when it comes to the European clubs with the most amount of representatives in the tournament. Nine players from Barcelona are currently in the knockout stages, more than any other European side.
Only Toronto FC from Canada has more representatives (10) than Barcelona, and no other club does. Apart from that, only the representatives from the South American side Independiente come close with 8. So far, other sides like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, PSG, Ajax, Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund have at best managed to have four or five representatives at the World stage.
For Barcelona, the likes of Pau Prim, Pau Cubarsi, Hector Fort, Marc Bernal, Marc Guiu, Andres Cuenca, Quim Junyent, and Juan Hernandez are all making waves with Spain. Another subsidiary talent, Noah Darvich, is currently captain of the German side in the tournament and has been crucial for them.
Even ‘Messinho’ himself, Estevao Willian, is present in the knockout stage. His upcoming bout is scheduled to take place against Argentina as he marches on with Brazil. He remains a potential great target for Barcelona in the near future.
