The reliance on youth within FC Barcelona remains one of the most defining features of the Catalan club. La Blaugrana have at many points in their gloried past relied on their youngsters to take the club to new heights from time to time.
Even today, young gems such as Pedri and Gavi continue to be pillars of Xavi Hernandez’s new-look FC Barcelona side. Both the youngsters mentioned have also managed to win the esteemed Golden Boy award in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Moving forward, it seems that Barcelona wish to continue this trend with the latest emerging youngsters and build a core team comprised of La Masia gems.
As per a report from SPORT, Barcelona youngsters Fermin Lopez, Lamine Yamal, Alex Valle, and Ander Astralaga are all set to become more regular members within the dynamics of the first team as they managed to impress Xavi Hernandez during the pre-season tour of the United States.
By rotating between both the subsidiary and being given chances within the first team under the tutelage of Xavi Hernandez, the Barcelona products will gain essential experience and a significant jump in quality of opposition to develop at their best possible potential.
The four players include players of varying positions and are of relatively the same age, with Fermin Lopez (20 years) mainly playing as a midfielder, Lamine Yamal (16 years) as a winger, Alex Valle (19 years) as a defender, and lastly Ander Astralaga (19 years) serving as a goalkeeper.
On the other hand, other key youngsters that embarked on the pre-season tour have been integrated within the Barcelona Atletic setup, namely Aleix Garrido, Mikayil Faye, and Marc Casado.
The three in question will also be given minutes within the first team, albeit at a lesser rate than the previously stated four, due to not being considered to be at the required point just yet to regularly compete at the highest level.
Barcelona insist on relying on their youngsters in order to move forward in a more sustainable fashion instead of putting their faith in expensive acquisitions, which remains an avenue that has not been particularly fruitful for Barcelona on several occasions in recent years.
