Barcelona sign highly-rated Kazakh teenager ahead of next season | OneFootball

While Barcelona’s academy is indeed notoriously famous for producing some of the world’s best footballers, an equal share of the credit must go to the scouting department, who burn the midnight oil to identify the creme-de-la-creme of global talents.

As reported by Mundo Deportivo in a recent report, Barcelona have now signed one of the brightest young Kazakhstan-based teenagers, Karim Mendikanov, and the player will join the club next summer.

Already seen as one of the best young talents in Spain, there is high expectation from the young star who will become Barcelona’s first-ever player from Kazakhstan.

A 15-year-old phenom

Indeed, as relayed by the Spanish outlet, Mendikanov has already signed a contract with Barcelona and will arrive at the club next summer. Born in 2011 in Kazakhstan, the player is no stranger to Spanish football.

Chasing professional football as a career, he made the move to Spain back in 2022 and has been training in Catalonia ever since.

He first began competing in the Catalan league for Cerdanyola last season and subsequently earned a move to Sant Cugat FC ahead of this season.

He has quickly established himself as a reliable and trusted option and is seeing minutes of prominence.

Mendikanov plays primarily as a right-winger and is known for his speed, dribbling and 1v1 ability under pressure. He is already one of the top assist providers in his league and stands out for his creative output.

The player opted for Barcelona’s proposal over the offers from multiple first-division teams and has already begun taking part in some training sessions with Barcelona, with permission from his current team.

His goal is to adapt and move up the ranks of the club quickly after his arrival.