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Football clubs from around the world invest huge amounts of money every year on their academies. They facilitate the development of these youth players and youth teams in the hope of producing the next batch of footballing stars.
It's a long and tedious process for both the clubs and these young players to go through, and most of the players that join these academies might not even make it as footballers.
Barcelona's La Masia academy
Finding the cream of the crop is what these footballing academies are all about. Barcelona's famed La Masia academy is one of the best, if not the best, at spotting some of the best talents from around the world.
The best player in the world was taught, trained, and created at the La Masia academy. I am talking about Lionel Messi obviously. Apart from the Argentine genius, players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Sergio Busquets, Pep Guardiola, Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and so many more have come through Barcelona's academy.
While a lot of them work their way up to the Barcelona first team, a few of them decide to leave early on to find first-team football elsewhere.
Here is a look at 5 players you have probably forgotten, or had no idea, played at Barcelona's La Masia academy:
#1 Takefusa Kubo (Real Madrid)
Currently on loan at Mallorca from Real Madrid, Takefusa Kubo has been dubbed as the "Japanese Messi". He spent four years at La Masia, and his stats during his time there prove why Barcelona signed him up.
In his first full season at the club where he played for the Under 11's, he scored 74 goals in just 30 games, and in his third season, he was promoted to the under 14's.
However his time at La Masia soon came to an end after just four years, with Barcelona found to have violated FIFA’s international transfer policy for under-18 youths, making Kubo ineligible to play for the club.
The young Japanese moved back to his homeland and ended up signing for FC Tokyo, where he continued his development. He ended his stint with them after having made 30 appearances, during which he scored 6 goals and assisted 4 more, before he ended up signing for Real Madrid.
In an interview last year, Kubo had this to say about why he chose to sign for Los Blancos rather than make a return to Barcelona:
"Real Madrid were clear that they wanted to sign me. They showed me the plan they had for my career and I really liked it; that convinced me. I really liked Real’s goal in a sporting sense, the plan they had for me for the next few years, and what they thought about me for the future.”
#2 Mauro Icardi (PSG)
Since leaving Barcelona's La Masia academy way back in 2011, Mauro Icardi has gone on to prove himself as one of the best strikers in world football at the moment.
The Argentine was integrated into the Barcelona under-17 team and scored 19 goals in his first year. He was then promoted to the under-19 team the following year, and scored another 17 goals.
However, midway through his third season, he decided to leave and ended up joining Italian team Sampdoria. But it was his time at Inter Milan where Icardi truly became the striker we all know today. In his six years at the club, the 27-year-old made 219 appearances and scored 124 goals. He also provided 28 assists and captained the club from 2015 till the time he left for PSG.
Sergi Barjuan, who was his coach at La Masia, stated this reason as to why he decided to leave:
"He left because he wanted to grow. There was a chance to do that at Barcelona but he saw that as the type of striker he was it would be difficult. It was not a question of having Barca DNA or not. I think he has a lot of quality. But it was about seeing his future clearly, something which he wasn't able to do at Barcelona, where it was tricky."
#3 Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig)
Dani Olmo is probably the least famous player on this list. Most of the people reading this article might not know who he is, but that will all change in a season or two.
The Spaniard joined Barcelona's La Masia as a 9-year-old way back in 2007, but he decided to leave them in 2014 and moved to Dinamo Zagreb out of all clubs, aged 16.
It's common for youngsters from Barcelona to leave to get more first-team action, but moving to the Croatian league was unconventional. For Olmo, however, the move paid off.
In an interview way back in 2015, he said:
"There is no other club where, at my age, I would get so many chances as Dinamo. I am developing a lot faster than I would anywhere else, even at La Masia. My former team-mates at Barcelona were first shocked, and then they understood my decision to move to Dinamo was the right one. Whilst I am playing senior football, they will have to wait two or three years, and that’s if they make senior football.”
Olmo would go on to break into the first team just a year after moving to Dinamo Zagreb, and he made 124 appearances for them, scoring 34 goals and assisting 28.
The Spaniard also won 4 league titles, 3 Croatian Cups, and several individual awards including Prva HNL Player of the Year 2018, Best Prva HNL player 2019, GNK Dinamo Zagreb Player of the Year 2019 and many more.
At the start of this year, Olmo got his big break when RB Leipzig signed him, but the Coronavirus pandemic has halted his development.
Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann has always believed in him, and had this to say after their recent 2-0 win over Hoffenheim:
"Before the game I told my staff that Dani would start as our Number 10 for the first time this season and perhaps he would score. The first two chances he scored so we are happy with his performance today”.
#4 Andre Onana (Ajax)
Andre Onana was snapped up by Barcelona's La Masia back in 2010 after he impressed for Samuel Eto'o's academy, and the Cameroon international spent 5 years in Spain before deciding to move to Ajax.
With Marc-André ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo the first two choices between the posts for Barcelona, Onana knew he would never be able to break into the first team, and he has had no reason to regret leaving.
Since moving to Ajax, Onana has gone on to establish himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He won the domestic double and went on to reach the Champions League semi-finals. He was also awarded Cameroonian Footballer of the Year and Best African Goalkeeper in 2018, and in 178 appearances for Ajax so far, he has kept 74 clean sheets.
His exceptional form at Ajax has not gone unnoticed at all. After four years at the club, it looks like he could be on the move again, with the likes of PSG, Chelsea and many more clubs interested.
A return to Barcelona also seems possible, with Onana saying:
"I am still in contact with Barcelona's chairmen and the coaches. Barcelona is my home. If I can go back, I will return. But for now, I'm the goalkeeper of Ajax and I will see what will happen."
#5 Keita Balde (Monaco)
Keita Balde joined Barcelona's La Masia as a 9-year-old. After progressing through the youth ranks, he moved to Italian side Lazio in 2011 but could not play for them until the following year. This was because he had to wait to be granted Spanish citizenship and the EU passport required for the Italian club to register him.
Lazio is where the Senelegase established himself as a top-level footballer, and he went on to score 31 goals and assist another 22 during his five years at the club. The winger was then bought by Monaco as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe, and although things have not gone entirely his way, he is still only 25 and his best is yet to come. In 60 appearances for Monaco, Balde has scored 16 and assisted 15.
The forward said in a recent interview that he owes his entire footballing career to Barcelona, and hopes to one day return to the country where he was taught about the beautiful game.
He said:
“Let's see what happens. I would love to play in Spain on a professional level. Sooner or later, I would like to go back. Which team? I don’t have a permanent team but I’m a bit sassy. I have very good memories [of La Masia], I started there when I was nine-years-old and these were decisive years of my life, what I have today, I owe everything to La Masia and Barça."
