According to a report in Sport, Barcelona planned to make Juan Larios, a 15-year-old left-back playing with Cadet A, the third highest teenager in La Masia behind Ansu Fati and Ilaix Moriba. This says a lot about the faith that the club has in the youngster, but even money wasn’t enough to convince the player and his family to stay in Catalonia.
Originally making the move from Sevilla in 2016, Larios seems to be on the move again, this time to Manchester City when he turns 16 on January 12th. It should be a reminder that every youngster leaves for different reasons. Eric García, Pablo Moreno, Robert Navarro, Xavi Simons, Adrián Bernabé, Sergio Gómez. This isn’t a complete list and not all of these players will make the grade at their respective clubs (Navarro has already moved to Real Sociedad from Monaco), but these are some of the names that the club earmarked for greatness. Some left for money, some for more experience. Some left for new challenges and some left because their family wanted a move.
There is the critique that in the current incarnation of Barcelona, where major talents are brought in instead of groomed, that La Masia will never get a shot with the first team. Ansu Fati, fortunately, is breaking that mold. He has been compensated with the belief that the club has in him, proving that the current regime will play a teenager if he’s good enough.
The club may have been willing to pay Larios, but his mind already seems made up. Fortunately for the Barcelona, Alejandro Balde is a year older and his potential is just as high or higher. The left-back could be getting a chance or two with Barcelona B by as soon as next season or more likely the following year, so hope that the left-back spot still has coverage in the future isn’t completely lost.
The one thing that Barcelona can’t take for granted is that these youngsters are potentially better recruiters for each other than the adults. Hopefully the success of Fati rectifies some of the stigma of youngsters not getting promoted, but ‘Juanito’ leaving is a sign that the club isn’t out of the woods yet in regards to keeping top talent.
