Departing Barcelona talent talks La Masia, his future, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, and his own journey | OneFootball

One of the most promising talents to emerge from the Barcelona academy in recent years is Quim Junyent. The 19-year-old Spanish midfielder has always managed to be a standout talent, but it seems that his time at the club is set to come to an end soon.

With his contract set to expire soon this summer, it seems that the player will not be renewing his deal with the club. Despite being praised by fellow Barça talent Xavi Espart just a few days ago, it seems that Junyent will not be pursuing his first team dreams at the Catalan club any longer.

In a recent interview, as quoted by MARCA, Junyent spoke about several topics in detail. One of them was La Masia, and he was full of praise for what the Barcelona youth academy had done for him:

“La Masia has helped shape the person I am today. It taught me the value of hard work. People don’t always see everything that goes on behind the scenes, but there’s a lot of sacrifice and effort involved. I’ll always be grateful for everything it gave me.”

Now set to represent the Spanish National team at the Under-19 European Championship, he was also asked if the tournament could allow interested clubs to get a better look at him:

The midfielder was also asked about who his best friend was in the youth squad, and he unsurprisingly named Xavi Espart as one of his closest friends:

As for the first team players in the Spanish National team currently at the FIFA World Cup, Junyent did not hesitate to name Pedri as the player that he looks up to the most:

“I really like Pedri, Fermín and Mikel Merino, especially those three. I think Pedri is different from everyone else. The team plays the game the way he wants it to. I watch him a lot, studying his matches, how he moves, how he finds space and how he carries the ball.”

Junyent also clarified that while Cubarsi and Yamal are eligible to play for the Under-19 team as well and yet are representing the senior team already, they are an exception and not the norm:

“Yes. I came through the Barcelona academy with Pau. It’s incredible that he and Lamine have already spent two or three years in the first team while still being youth-age players. That’s not normal. I’m really happy for them, but as I said, everyone has to follow their own path.”

In a follow-up question, he was also asked if he was still in touch with Cubarsi given the time that they have spent together:

Despite the promise that he showed, it seems likely that Quim Junyent will try to make his mark elsewhere moving forward. Ultimately, it seems like an understandable decision given the fact that the first team’s midfield already possesses a lot of quality and depth as it is.