Pau Navarro, from ‘Xiquet de la Vilavella’ to ‘Puyol de la Plana Baixa’ | OneFootball

Pau Navarro’s rise at Villarreal has accelerated. The 21-year-old defender from La Vilavella is no longer just a promising academy product, he is established in the top flight and increasingly influential.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, Navarro joined Villarreal’s youth setup in 2020 after CD Roda, developed at Miralcamp and is now in his third season around the first-team setup. Homegrown and quickly embraced, he became known as the ‘Xiquet de la Vilavella’.

His top-flight debut arrived on 26 September 2024, matchday seven of LaLiga 2024/25, in a 1-2 win at Espanyol in Cornellà. Introduced in the 74th minute, he has progressed steadily since.

He added international experience in 2025 by playing the Under-20 World Cup with Spain. Head coach Iñigo Pérez has praised him and drawn parallels with Carles Puyol, noting his versatility, speed, decisiveness, ability to play full-back or centre-back, his willingness to play out from the back and that he does not complain.

Pérez has also suggested the next step is for Navarro to start believing how good he really is. That view has prompted talk of the ‘Puyol de la Plana Baixa’, a symbolic nod to shared traits rather than identical careers.

Navarro has welcomed the faith with restraint. He appreciates the coach’s words but prefers to keep his feet on the ground and forge his own path, rather than dwell on comparisons.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”