FC Barcelona has always had the ability to count on their youth talents at times of need. Their current economic problems would have been far more damaging had they not possessed the ability to call upon their academy starlets to compensate for the lack of star power within the squad at times.
Even now as several FC Barcelona first-team stars have traveled with their respective national teams, the Catalan giants are calling upon their young gems from the youth ranks and subsidiaries to compensate for the decreased numbers in training.
In terms of absentees, 13 players from the first team are currently away on International duty. Ter Stegen and Ilkay Gundogan with Germany, Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo with Portugal, Jules Kounde with France, Balde, Gavi, Ferran and Lamine Yamal with Spain, Frenkie De Jong with the Netherlands, Robert Lewandowski with Poland, Raphinha with Brazil and lastly Andreas Christensen with the Danish National team.
In their stead, 8 players have been recently invited for the latest training session conducted by Xavi Hernandez. However, three out of those players are aged just 16 according to the information provided by Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, an age shared with rising star Lamine Yamal.
Out of the 8 invited players, it is Ander Astralaga (19), Marc Guiu (17), Edu Sanchez (18), Aleix Garrido (19), and Iker Goujon (24) that are above the almost bizarre age of 16 in terms of players participating in the training session.
The three players that are currently only aged 16 include the likes of Pau Cubarsi, a highly promising central defender for the subsidiary, Marc Bernal, an integral part of Rafa Marquez’s Barcelona Atletic, and lastly Juan Hernandez, a left-winger who has featured for Barca’s youth ranks since his arrival to the club in 2020 from Real Zaragoza.
The seniors that were available during the training session included the likes of Oriol Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Inaki Pena, Marcos Alonso, Inigo Martinez, and even Fermin Lopez, with the 20-year-old having already established himself as a proper member of the Barcelona first team.
