It has been a long time since fans have felt a fresh, youthful energy flowing through Barcelona. The Catalan giant is now soaring on the wings of talents from the renowned La Masia academy.
The days of glory are past, and Barca is now merely a supporting actor in the transfer market. The club has attempted several deals but only completed two signings, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, in the summer of 2024. This situation has made La Masia the solution for Barca, both due to financial constraints and because of coach Hansi Flick’s trust in young players.
Although Barca did not achieve much success in the summer of 2024, notably failing to secure Nico Williams from Bilbao, Coach Flick has not voiced any complaints. Instead, he has accepted the current situation following this special transfer window. The financial difficulties even forced Barca to quickly offload some of the club’s highest-paid players (Ilkay Gundogan returned to Man City; Clement Lenglet moved to Atletico) to adjust the squad.
Currently, Barca has only 22 first-team players, falling short of the initial recruitment goals. All the vacancies created by an incomplete plan are being filled by young talents from La Masia. The backup full-backs (Hector Fort on the right; Gerard Martin on the left) are both products of the Johan Cruyff Stadium.
In the defensive midfield position, although Barca has yet to find a replacement for Sergio Busquets, Marc Bernal (17 years old) and Marc Casado (20 years old) have become key figures. If the center-backs (Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen) are injured, the door will immediately open for Sergi Dominguez (19 years old), while Andres Cuenca (17 years old) is still waiting for his chance. It is no coincidence that Flick has introduced four young La Masia players in the first four matches of La Liga 2024/25.
The four matches have brought both calm and great hope for Barca. Once again, La Masia is flowing strongly at Camp Nou.