La Masia is known for being one of the best youth academies in the world of football, developing and polishing a lot of talented young starlets through their ranks. However, since Barcelona is one of the best clubs in the world and thus, a highly competitive medium with a lot of pressure on the players, many of them couldn’t even get close to the first team.
For this very reason, many youngsters who feel that they have outgrown the B team are eventually leaving the club at a young age and try themselves at a different, usually lower-profile club. For example, this year there were 13 young players that leaves Barcelona subsidiary after not renewing their contracts at the club and thus, they can find suitors as free agents.
One of the 13 departing youngsters is Ilias Akhomach, the teenager who was dubbed as one of the best jewels of the academy. He even got to debut among the Blaugrana seniors but couldn’t get regular opportunities in the first team, and thus, the 19-year-old decided not to continue at Barcelona and find a new club, seeking sufficient game time of first-division football.
In the end, it was Villarreal who got the signature of the player who left the Catalan club with the letter of freedom, signing the player on a 4-year contract, binding him to the Castellón-based club until 2027. The Amarillo club announced the signing of Akhomach via their social media platforms and the club’s official website.
Leeds United and Milan were also interested in the youngster, but in the end, the Spanish winger with Moroccan origins chose Villarreal as his next destination.
The player will join Villarreal’s pre-season camp once his U19 Euros campaign with Spain ends, and the idea for him is to play at the subsidiary of the Yellow Submarine, while also being in the dynamics of the first team and receive minutes of top-flight football.
