This season there have been many La Masia stars who have either broken into the first team or drastically improved under Hansi Flick.

The most notable is Pau Cubarsi, who has benched club captain Ronald Araujo and is now Flick’s first choice defender. 

Meanwhile, the likes of Gavi and Alejandro Balde are still getting regular minutes under the German coach after breaking into the senior side under Xavi. 

Barcelona legend’s harsh words for Cubarsi, Gavi & Balde

In a recent interview though, cited by Managing Barca, Barcelona legend Gerard Pique suggested that the trio are only playing because the club have no other choices.

“Would players like Cubarsí, Balde, Gavi have had a chance to play in our generation? I don’t know.”

“I think they play out of necessity, not because there is real confidence in them.”  

Whilst there may be some truth in this statement, the trio Pique mentioned have all proven they are good enough to be in a title challenging side. 

Balde has improved 10-fold under Flick and whilst there are still some deficiencies, it would be hard to get a left-back better than him for a reasonable price. 

Meanwhile, Cubarsi and Gavi would be welcome at most clubs in world football, so his criticism seems a bit more unjustified there.

For years Barcelona have promoted through La Masia, even whilst Pique was in the first team. So even though flashy new signings grab the headlines, bringing youth players is something Barca was build on and should continue to do.