It is no secret that FC Barcelona still houses some of European football’s finest talents. The Catalan giants remain a household name in the world of youth talents and prodigies, and for good reason. La Masia continues to feed Barcelona, and every emerging talent is one to keep an eye on.
Over the years that have passed, the quality of the youth academy’s graduates has fluctuated at times. At one point, Barcelona had their iconic golden generation that included the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, and many more. These Ballon D’or finalists defined a generation, and many believed it would be a one-off occurrence.
Fortunately for Barcelona, the newest crop of talents is already looking to make their mark as well on the world of football. Ultimately, however, there is perhaps no better way to do that than to appear on the podium or even end up with the prize itself in some major individual honor.
Interestingly, that seems to be the intention of some of Barça’s most dazzling starlets. As highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, the ten final nominees for the prestigious Kopa Trophy have now been revealed. For context, this award is given to the most outstanding youngster at the Ballon D’or ceremony every year.
This time around, FC Barcelona see two of their best young talents make that list of the final ten players. One of them is 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who will be seen by many as the heavy favorite to take the award home after an unreal season with both club and country that even involved him winning the 2024 European Championship while being named the competition’s best young player.
The other inclusion from Barcelona in that last ten is Pau Cubarsi, the 17-year-old La Masia defender who rose to prominence last season and continues to be a guaranteed starter in this new-look team led by Hansi Flick. He even competed in the Paris Olympics this year and helped Spain win the Gold medal by the end of it.
Interestingly, two of the last three winners of this award have hailed from Barcelona as well. Gavi won the award back in 2022, while fellow Spanish midfielder Pedri won it the previous year in 2021. Since its inception back in 2018, Barcelona remains the club with the most wins with two players winning it so far.
Apart from the two Barcelona gems, the other included nominees are Arda Guler (Real Madrid), Alejandro Garnacho (Man United), Kobbie Mainoo (Man United), Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Savinho (Man City), Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich), and Karim Konate (RB Salzburg).
