Barcelona’s financial situation in recent years has taken the club substantially away from its former money-splashing ways towards a very conservative approach.
The focus, in recent years, has been on developing homegrown talents and the strategy has paid good dividends to this point.
After Pedri won the Golden Boy in 2021, Gavi took home the accolade in 2022. This year, Lamine Yamal is well-placed to win the award while others including Pau Cubarsi and Fermin Lopez are still in the hunt.
Bubbling with young stars already, Hansi Flick’s arrival will only pave the way for more such talents to come out given the new manager’s fond interest in the academy.
Barça Universal brings you three youngsters who can become the club’s breakthrough stars for the 2024-25 season.
Marc Bernal
A special talent. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
Barcelona have long looked for an heir to the throne Sergio Busquets once occupied at the club. Stranded without a natural defensive midfielder, the Catalans attempted to phase in Oriol Romeu but the attempt was soon deemed a failure.
It was eventually Andreas Christensen who filled the void for the Blaugrana, but the team still needs a natural pivot who understands the ins and the outs of the Barcelona way to step in for the long term.
Enter, Marc Bernal. At just 17 years of age, the youngster is seen as one of La Masia’s brightest prospects in the defensive midfield role.
Defensively solid, smooth with his distribution and with an adept sense of vertical passes between the lines, the youngster has stood out in training sessions under Hansi Flick and makes a strong case to see minutes under the new manager.
Given close to 200 minutes in the team’s recent USA pre-season tour, Bernal clearly has Flick’s trust. His maturity beyond his years, coupled with the new formation’s requirement of a double pivot, provides an optimal opportunity for him to shine.
Marc Casado, at 20…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/three-youngsters-who-could-be-barcelonas-breakout-stars-in-2024-25/
Author : Adithya Eshwarla
Publish date : 2024-08-17 15:59:55
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.