18-year-old Barcelona star already proving to be a mentor for La Masia talents looking for a first-team place | OneFootball

The last few years have seen several youngsters from La Masia make the leap to the FC Barcelona first team. Some of these players are important pieces of the squad for Hansi Flick, while some others have gone on to lock down their own starting spots.

One such player in the latter category is the centre-back Pau Cubarsi, who has made a big jump in his career in the last two years. During this time, he has grown from being a promising talent in the youth or reserve teams to being one of the guaranteed starters at a club as big as FC Barcelona, and that too, only by the age of 18.

Pau Cubarsi: An 18-year-old mentor

Photo Courtesy: The official website of FC Barcelona

He was only 16 years of age when he made his debut with the first team, and in these two years, he has gone on to experience a lot of top-flight football. Thus, despite having reached the age of maturity only a few months back, he is already an experienced player.

As SPORT has noted, this unique aspect of his personality is allowing him to be an ideal mentor for some of the youngsters who are hoping to make a place for themselves in the first team in this preseason.

These youngsters are facing quite a taxing time, as they know they will not get many opportunities to make it to the Barcelona first team. Thus, players like Jofre Torrents, Dro, Juan Hernandez, and Landry Farre are trying to get through Flick’s screening test and make it to the flight for the preseason tour of Asia.

A blessing for the rising Barcelona gems and for Hansi Flick

In this pivotal time of their careers, having the support of Pau Cubarsi, who understands La Masia perfectly and now also has a lot of experience playing in the first team, can prove to be a blessing.

In fact, the centre-back seems to be aware of his unique position, and can already be seen helping out some youngsters who are experiencing their first moments with the first team.

Meanwhile, having such a player is also a blessing for Hansi Flick, as the German coach has a lot of talent from the academy at his disposal.