Mes que un Club, the moto that has defined and created fame for the club for decades has, in recent years, lost its significance. Since Xavi has taken over that moto has been revitalized within Barca. More than a club had always meant exactly that, growing homegrown players to become the next superstars of the game and having a manager that instills a beautiful style of play for the fans to enjoy. He has been able to do just that by trusting and relying on young talented academy players to perform with the first team. While he doesn’t fill the starting 11 with just academy players he has filled those positions with tenured veterans to help and lead those young stars. Those stars include Balde, Yamine Lamal, Fermin Lopez and players that have yet to make their first appearances but have had first team experience in Hector Fort and Pau Prim.

As faithful Barcelona supporters may have expected from following the Barcelona Academy teams, the arrival of new emerging stars Balde and Yamine Lamal was long awaited. The instant impact that they’ve had has provided a huge spark for the first team at the start of the season and can become integral pieces for the future of the club and Spanish football. Yamine Lamal’s ability to take players one-on-one down the wing may just be what Xavi needed late in matches.

In Lamal’s 8 matches to start the season, he is third in expected goals at 1.3, fourth in shots with 10, fourth in shot creating actions and leads the team with 14 successful take ons in 22 attempts. With just three starts in his extremely young career he is looking promising to be a truly deadly threat in attack for Barcelona.

Balde another big breakout player from last season and has carried that success over to this season. He is second to Lamal in successful take ons with 13 in 24 attempts and third in total carrying distance at 1,686 yards. He has been playing a slightly different role than a traditional leftback, being a true threat in the Barcelona attack.

The next players to look out for in La Masia are Hector Fort, Pau Prim and Fermin Lopez. While Lopez is already part of the first team and making a solid impact, he hasn’t gotten many minutes with the midfield depth on the first team, look out for big contribution from him as the season goes on. As for Hector Fort and Pau Prim both being just 16 years old it may be a few years before we see them make their first team debuts. With Fort being the academy’s most promising defender at right back and Pau Prim being a defensive midfielder both will need some playing time with the first team to fully understand their potential. Prim being a much needed ambidextrous ball playing

defensive midfielder with great control of the ball and understanding of positioning he could be the replacement that Xavi is looking for to fill that Busquets role.

Leveraging homegrown talent to create a cohesive team that has played together for years can put the team a step ahead of their opponents. Hiring managers that have played in the Barca system and are familiar with the style also creates an advantage as that is the system that perfectly depicts the values of football club barcelona.