FC Barcelona's impressive Young Stars

By: Noah Goldman

FC Barcelona is a team known for producing talented young stars with players like Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi going through their youth club. Recently, there has been a lot of excitement around the current young players who often participate In first-team play. The four players highlighted in this article have the most hype around them. We will be focusing on Lamine Yamal (16), Pau Cubarsí (17), Marc Guiu (18), and Pablo Gavi (19). These are the most notable players at FC Barcelona in their respective age groups.

Spanish left winger Lamine Yamal is looking to be one of the most talented wingers in the next generation. He is elite on the cut-in and extremely good with the ball at his feet, making him a problematic winger to match up against. His only stand-out weaknesses are his weight and reluctance to cross the ball using his right foot. He is the youngest of the four and is a mere 16 years old. He has already gotten 23 starts for the Barcelona first team, 7 of which are in Champions League games. He quickly became the youngest player to start, let alone play on Barcelona's first team. You can only assume the youngest starter to come out of a club known for creating young talent is bound to be remarkable. He has also become the youngest goal scorer in La Liga and the youngest player and goal scorer for the Spanish national team. Yamal has less than half of some of his teammates' life experience and, despite that, is playing above and beyond all that he is expected to be. If he can stay healthy, Lamine Yamal will become a top player in the next generation.

Pau Cubarsí is a 17-year-old Spanish center-back on the Barcelona first team and is already making headlines for his remarkable performances. Cubarsí is an acrobatic defender most noted for his highly aggressive yet accurate slide tackles and his impressive field vision. His only notable weakness is his risky inside-the-box challenges. Still, they have not proven to be a problem in his professional career, as he rarely fouls attackers despite the dangerous tackles. Cubarsí, on 4/16/24, against PSG, became the youngest defender to ever be in the starting 11 in a Champions League quarter-final match and also had an outstanding performance. leaving Kylian Mbappe, who is believed to be the current best striker in the world, with 0 goals, 0 assists, and only 3 shots, none of which were on target. His only blunder in the match was a missed tackle ending a dangerous attack that turned into a yellow card. This is one of many impressive performances he has had, and he is already looking to be one of the most consistent young players the world has ever seen. There should be no doubt that Cubarsí will be a valuable weapon to Barcelona and whatever team has him in the future.

Marc Guiu, the 18-year-old Spanish forward, has looked to be a potentially remarkable attacker. Guiu is a textbook striker with good all-round attacking play. Guiu has a top-tier work rate, shot off the dribble, and weak foot finish. His main weakness is his overly aggressive decision-making, often resulting in missed opportunities in the attacking third. Guiu has only played 3 league games for Barcelona in the 2024 season, likely due to their solid forward depth but in those games, he already has 1 goal, which happens to be an eye-catching story. Guiu scored his goal in a home game against Athletic Bilbao, and his mother was in attendance. Looking for a breakthrough Guiu who had scored 5 goals in his last 5 games for the U-19 squad, was subbed on in the 79th minute for Fermin Lopez just 23 seconds into being subbed on, he found himself through goal and snuck a well-placed finish passed the keeper who was off his line. Guiu was only 17 when he bagged himself a game-winner only 23 seconds into his debut. In his post-game interview, he said, “I can’t breathe. I’m just enjoying the moment, I’m still flying,” Guiu had been at the club for 10 years, and it had been one of his many dreams to score a goal for the first team, but he had no idea he would make that dream a reality as quickly as he did. With his improvements, Marc Guiu will continue to improve on the U-19 squad and will likely begin scoring for the first team much more often. Guiu surely will be a top-level player in the next generation.

The oldest of the 4 Spanish Central Midfielder, Pablo Gavi has already proved his worth on the Barcelona first team, solidifying himself as a critical part of the squad. For Spain on 11/19/23 in a Euros qualifier match against Georgia, Gavi tore his ACL early in the game, halting his remarkable improvement. Gavi is predicted to be back playing for the squad come the 24/25 season. Gavi, before the injury, though, was playing excellent football. Gavi is a playmaking midfielder who gets out of tight spaces and plays well-placed passes through opposing teams' defensive third. His only notable weakness is his reported lack of discipline which is typical for an important player as young as him. Gavi has made a total of 111 appearances for the first team at Barcelona, and in those appearances, he has a total of 7 goals and 14 assists. When Gavi is on the field, he plays a crucial role in the majority of their attacking opportunities and makes defensive plays when needed. Gavi was awarded the 2022 Golden Boy Award for his impressive play. He was named the best young player in 2022, beating out competitors like Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga, who currently play for their rivals Real Madrid. If post-injury Gavi can find a way to regain his form, he will most certainly become one of the greats in the future of football.