La Masia has always been a place where Barcelona‘s young talents know that, if they impress, there is a path to the first team. It became the norm in the 1990s and has carried on since.
A decade ago, under Pep Guardiola, Barcelona had close to an entire XI of academy graduates with Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas all at the club during their best days as players.
Now, under Ronald Koeman, they’re experiencing a second batch as Pedri, Ansu Fati, Gavi and Nico are all stepping up to the first team, each with the potential to go on to stardom.
The Catalans have always had an eye for young talent, and an ability for nurturing that into an elite level professional. Gavi‘s debut with Spain aged 17 years and 60 days old shows that he has the ability to achieve anything and everything in football, and Barcelona have a midfield trident with an average age of under 18.
Real Madrid, for their part, have always had more reservations about moving youngsters from Castilla to the first team. There isn’t that same culture of having faith in the youth players and they are instead loaned out first.
Look at Atletico Madrid and you find both Marcos Llorente and Mario Hermoso, who had to leave Real Madrid to play in LaLiga Santander despite their talent.
Barcelona‘s policy is different to Real Madrid‘s, and they owe that to Johan Cruyff and his legacy at the club. Los Blancos, on the other hand, have always placed increased value on immediate results, even though they have had players take the step in recent years like Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal, but only after having stepped away first.
