Barcelona is intensifying its youth recruitment by targeting two exceptional European wonderkids for La Masia.
Barcelona’s La Masia academy has long been the lifeblood of success for the club, turning out top-level players like Lionel Messi and, most recently, Lamine Yamal.
However, the club’s sporting department understands that even their productive youth arrangements cannot satisfy first-team needs, so the club’s scouts are continuously trying to grab talented young players from around Europe.
The idea is simple: find and sign talented teenage players at reasonable prices, then develop them using La Masia’s methodology.
This way, Barcelona has consistent influxes of talent to supplement their homegrown players and continue producing young players in a connected pipeline, especially as we approach summer and the transfer window.
According to Diario Sport, two young players have come to Barcelona.
The first is an attacking player, Mikkel Bro, from Denmark.
The 16-year-old striker is already impressing with Bodo/Glimt’s first team in Norway.
He’s got the all-round instincts of a classic centre-forward, and Barcelona’s scouts watched him play for Denmark’s U16 against England, and even though the game ended 7-3 in England’s favour, Hansen impressed the scouts.
He is also being watched by Bundesliga clubs as well but Bodo/Glimt want to give him more time before considering offers.
The second target is Abdellah Ouazane, a flexible sixteen-year-old midfielder for Ajax’s esteemed academy.
Ouazane is a Moroccan-Dutch dual citizen and has shown versatility either as a pivot or a box-to-box player for both national teams, which has generated interest from teams like Paris Saint-Germain.
Both players are under Barcelona’s technical staff’s watchful eye, which is seeking to close the gaps in its young player superiority.
The club is prioritising cost-effective players, and interest in these two teenagers also highlights Barcelona’s desire to integrate recruits from the outside into La Masia’s traditions, and to go with their own values.
With the end of the summer transfer window looming, it will be interesting to monitor how proactive Barcelona is in their interest in these two developing prospects, but their interest in their interest suggests a proactive strategy for building the future.
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