The success of FC Barcelona will always be one that remains dependent on the club’s youth. While it does not hurt to sign top players to help out the first team every now and then, La Blaugrana have their own La Masia products to trust. After all, most of the success that Barcelona has enjoyed came with the rise of great prodigies from the youth academy and subsidiary.
Even Hansi Flick, the newest coach to take the reins at Barcelona, remains in awe of La Masia and just how incredibly gifted the players are who are developed within it. However, some players definitely manage to stand out more than others, and the case at Barça is no different.
Especially when it comes to this new era of the club that is being led by Hansi Flick, a few standout names connect this team on all fronts. As highlighted by SPORT, the three La Masia prodigies who seem to define this team better than anyone else are Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, and now Marc Bernal.
First and foremost, Lamine Yamal is a player who no longer needs any introductions. A hero for his club and country already by the age of 17, he is a renowned record-breaker who never fails to amaze even the most critical of opponents. In fact, it is hardly a surprise anymore when people begin to draw parallels between Lionel Messi and the young Barcelona prodigy.
Pau Cubarsi, on the other hand, is a player who is most appreciated by those who consistently watch him play. Despite still being only 17 years of age, the same as both Yamal and Marc Bernal, the player possesses a vision and passing range that even the most experienced players would envy. Moreover, it is even more absurd when one considers the fact that he is a defender capable of nullifying even world-class attackers at his age.
Lastly, Marc Bernal enters the picture as the latest addition to the first team from among these three generational 17-year-old talents. A midfielder who changed the club’s perception on needing a new pivot, Bernal offers a profile that should have been near-impossible to find in a player of his age.
Combining both a great understanding of the game with a technical mastery that exceeds the norm of his age, Bernal is the midfielder who Hansi Flick has decided to bet on and he is repaying all that faith with his excellent displays.
A 17-year-old forward, a defender, and a midfielder of the same age continue to define this new iteration of Barcelona. Interestingly, these three players would right now be with their peers in a Juvenil team as per the normal evolution of players their age, but due to the unnatural state of their abilities, it would be distasteful to have them anywhere but the first team.
