FC Barcelona often find the most unreal of talents coming up from their acclaimed footballing academy, La Masia. These players also typically possess great potential that can be an asset to the Catalan club in the near future either from a sporting perspective or even a financial one.
In recent times, Barcelona have found some absolute gems from their academy who are expected to have the potential to become key components of the first team. Players that fall into such a category include the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, and even Marc Bernal, all of whom belong from the year 2007 as their year of birth.
However, the latest to join them may potentially be a certain defender from Cadete A, according to Spanish outlet SPORT. 16-year-old Andres Cuenca is expected to be the next big blockbuster at FC Barcelona following further development and there are high expectations of him despite him being a defender rather than a player specializing in a more fancy or flashy position.
His key attributes include his positional awareness, swift decision-making, and agility with the ball, alongside a solid passing range coupled with reportedly great defensive attributes as well.
Despite already looking like a perfect central defender in terms of theoretical analysis, the left-footed defender still has a ways to go before he becomes a player worth the attention of the first team.
His latest outings for the Barcelona subsidiary against both Royal Antwerp in the Uefa Youth League and the Girona subsidiary saw him be a crucial part of the team that emerged victorious from both fixtures.
Creating chances and attacking the opposition while simultaneously tending to his defensive responsibilities, the player has shown himself to be a complete unit.
Arriving in FC Barcelona from Sevilla in 2019, the youngster has developed and grown up within the youth ranks of the Catalan club. His progression has been commendable and those who closely follow La Masia all seem to have highly positive things to say about the up-and-coming star defender from the subsidiary.
For now, it seems the Barcelona first team under Xavi Hernandez is well sorted out defensively. However, at any point, there may come the need to rely on academy products due to any unforeseen circumstance, and that is exactly when Andres Cuenca needs to be ready and vigilant enough to take advantage.
