Barcelona face fresh threat as Saudi Arabia steps up youth talent recruitment | OneFootball

In the last few years, a rather new force has emerged that can significantly alter the footballing landscape on the global level, i.e., the large investments in Saudi Football.

Backed by the money of the Saudi state, clubs from this part of the world are now looking beyond just signing the shiniest names in the world of football, and are pondering a change of policy that can directly impact FC Barcelona.

This is according to a report from SPORT, which claims that the Saudis are now planning to further boost the footballing structure in their country by signing young players from around Europe. These players will be brought to one of the academies that are under Arab control.

After a phase of development in these academies, these talents will have the opportunity to either play in top-level Saudi football or to join other teams, from Europe or elsewhere, if they face problems adapting to the Middle Eastern country and its football.

With this change in policy, Barcelona can be the most impacted club in Europe. This threat is already manifesting itself with the increased presence of officials from Saudi clubs in the Ciutat Esportiva, where the Al-Ittihad Sporting Director was present only last Wednesday to witness the UEFA Youth League match between Barcelona Juvenil A and Dinamo Zagreb.

Some youngsters from Spanish football have already made the move to Saudi Arabia, with Gabri Viega and Unai Hernandez the most notable talents to have made the move to the Middle Eastern country at a rather young age.

Thus, as Saudi Arabia looks to bring a more sustainable model of youth development in their football, Barcelona can face a direct threat as they have the most prestigious academy in Europe and the Saudis will definitely try to lure some of their talents to their country.