For a club in crisis, Barcelona are incredibly stacked with talent. And contrary to the discourse pushed by the media for years now, LaMasia is indeed alive and well. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a large influx of academy graduates break their way into the team in the not so distant future.
Granted, it’s all about supply & demand so the first team’s circumstances will undoubtedly be a huge factor in this process taking shape. Without their struggles, the need for LaMasia would inevitably diminish. But part of that ‘Més que un club’ motto is indeed the trust in the farmhouse; the superstars of the future. By definition, Barça should always look for in-house solutions before reaching for salvation in the market. The philosophy dictates it.
When he was recently asked where he lives, Pablo Martín Páez Gavira or simply known as Gavi, promptly answered ‘in LaMasia’. And this, while to an outsider it could seem like an overly romanticised statement, is absolutely spot on. Gavi is the embodiment of LaMasia in so many ways; how he turns, runs, controls the ball, passes or receives it - it all screams Barça. But Gavi’s ‘bite’ to the game is something unique to his profile and perhaps even unique to the academy itself. This makes him stand out even more.