Barcelona’s La Masia the most valued youth academy in the world – CIES study | OneFootball

Throughout their history, Barcelona have always built their identity on the pillars of their youth academy.

From the golden era of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez to the modern day, La Masia has remained the club’s beating heart.

And now, a recent CIES report has quantified the sheer richness of La Masia‘s heritage, hailing it as the most-valued youth academy in the world.

The riches of La Masia

As reported by SPORT, Barcelona top the worldwide ranking for the highest aggregate transfer value of academy players still under contract with their training club, as per CIES leaderboards.

The report reveals that the market value of Barça’s homegrown talents, currently contracted with the club, stands at a staggering €738 million.

La Masia players Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Pau Cubarsi. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

The gap between Barcelona and the rest of the world is astronomical. The Catalan giants boast a value that is more than double that of their closest competitors.

The top three are completed by Manchester City (€286 million) and Bayern Munich (€284 million) – figures that pale in comparison to the wealth of talent residing in Catalonia.

To put this dominance into perspective, Barça’s academy value is higher than the combined total of the second and third-placed teams.

This massive valuation is driven by the current explosion of talent under Hansi Flick.

Young superstars such as Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, and Alejandro Balde have become established starters, skyrocketing their market value.

As per Transfermarkt, Yamal is already the most valuable player in the world, with a market value of €200 million.

Pau Cubarsi and Fermin Lopez are the next most valuable La Masia players for Barcelona, at €80 million and €70 million respectively.