Barca’s future safe in the hands of €1bn trio
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 9 Feb 2022 15:30 GMT
- 3 min read
Barcelona’s rich history of bringing players through their La Masia academy is set to be central to the recovery of the first team.
The club’s financial headaches have been well documented over the course of the last year, with debts running at well over €1 billion, but the future of the first team appears to be in good hands.
Indeed, Barca have valued a trio of their brightest young prospects at a staggering €1bn – effectively taking them off the transfer market. Even the richest clubs in the world cannot imagine paying such a sum for an individual player, with that figure almost five times more than the fee that took Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain from Camp Nou.
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Barca’s €1bn stars
Barcelona first moved to tie Pedri down to a new contract that boasts the symbolic release clause – a sign of their confidence in the young midfielder to star for years to come.
He worked himself to the bone last season and has suffered from these exertions this time around. Indeed, he has managed only eight appearances, but the expectation is that when he can be nursed back to full health, he will hit the staggering heights he managed last term.
At just 19, he will star for many years to come, assuming his body holds up.
Similarly, Ansu Fati has exploded onto the scene early. Indeed, much is expected of the young winger, who is already seen as the long-term heir to Lionel Messi.
While the 19-year-old attacker has shown his qualities when he has made it onto the field, he has a worrying trend of injury issues in recent months that have restricted him to just a handful of appearances.
The final player to join this club is Gavi, who is set to shun interest from Liverpool and Chelsea to sign a new contract with a €1bn release clause in it imminently.
His emergence has arguably been even quicker than that of either of his colleagues, with the classy midfielder becoming Spain’s youngest ever international when he featured in the Nations League during the autumn.
Collectively, these three players are the future of Barca – potentially three of the greatest players of their generation. Their club have been quick to understand that.
Indeed, by putting €1bn price tags on their heads, Barcelona have effectively said that Pedri, Ansu and Gavi are priceless to the club – regardless of the perilous financial position currently.
