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Barcelona have long boasted of the merits of their superb academy La Masia. The Catalan giants are widely believed to possess the best youth facilities in the world. A quick run-through of the Barcelona academy alumni list will reveal the same. A host of world-class talent from La Masia went on to leave their mark on the footballing landscape.
The wealth of talent produced at La Masia is due to the academy's determined focus on technical and intellectual excellence. This has ensured that Barcelona can call a stream of top-quality academy graduates into the first team. Quite a few of the Blaugrana’s best players started out in the club’s academy.
However, some academy players have to ply their trade elsewhere as they fail to make it in Barcelona's first team. So, without further ado, here is our list of five such La Masia graduates:
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#5 Andre Onana | Ajax
After starting off his youth career at the Samuel Eto'o Foundation, La Masia scouts located Andre Onana and signed him back in 2010. By 2015, the star had graduated from Barcelona's academy but made the decision to sign for Dutch outfit Ajax instead.
For two years, the young Onana played in the second division for Ajax's reserve team, picking up 39 appearances.
However, the club were soon pleased with the La Masia graduate. In 2016, the then-teenager became Ajax's main goalkeeper, making 46 appearances that season.
The talent and promise Onana showed was evident to all, and before long, the youngster was courted by other European juggernauts. However, the star has chosen to remain at Ajax, where he has garnered over 200 appearances. He has also become Cameroon's number one goalkeeper, a spot he has held since 2018.
#4 Dani Olmo | RB Leipzig
Unlike Onana, Dani Olmo made his professional debut in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb, rather than in the Netherlands.
The youngster was born in the city of Barcelona. After a short stint at Espanyol's academy, he transferred to La Masia. The Spaniard remained at Barca's football school for seven years and graduated in 201. Rather than signing a contract with his boyhood club, Olmo opted to exit.
A transfer to Dinamo Zagreb saw him enter the ranks of the first-team rather quickly, with the star picking up a debut within months. Olmo remained with Zagreb until 2020 when the opportunity to play in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig came.
Now plying his trade in Germany, the 23-year-old has already garnered 79 appearances with Leipzig, scoring 15 goals. He also features for Spain's national team, which is rather difficult to enter.
#3 Ilaix Moriba | Valencia
Like Olmo, Ilaix Moriba went on to play for RB Leipzig, but the teenager did sign a professional contract with Barcelona in his early days. After two years at Espanyol, Moriba moved to La Masia, where he spent nine years, graduating in 2019.
Notably, European heavyweights like Juventus monitored Moriba's progress and tried to poach him from the Blaugrana. However, the star remained in Spain, signing his first professional deal with his boyhood club.
He enjoyed some game time with Barcelona's first team, making 18 appearances in the 2020-21 season. He then moved to RB Leipzig last summer.
However, the German outfit certainly had the future in mind when they made that transfer. They sent him out on loan to Valencia in the January transfer window, where he has made nine appearances so far. Although he is just 19-year-old and still growing, the future is certainly bright for Moriba.
#2 Mauro Icardi | PSG
Mauro Icardi's professional career has been a display of success across two countries - Italy and France.
He never played a first-team game for Barcelona. However, he was notably fought over in 2007, when a number of European clubs wanted to get him to their academies as well. He eventually joined Blaugrana's academy, but stayed a short time, leaving the club in 2011 on loan to Sampdoria.
His success at Sampdoria led Inter Milan to come after Icardi. The attacker flourished with the Nerazzurri, scoring 124 goals in just 219 appearances in all competitions.
However, he eventually moved to Paris Saint-Germain on loan in 2019. He scored 20 goals in 34 games for the French side that season, ensuring they kept him on. So far, he has made 91 appearances in all competitions, scoring 38 goals for the Parisian giants.
#1 Thiago Alcantara | Liverpool
After joining a series of academies as a child, Thiago eventually spent the last three years of his youth training at La Masia. In 2008, he signed a professional contract with the Blaugrana. He rose through the ranks to secure a spot for himself within the competitive Camp Nou midfield.
It took the star two years to gain a consistent position in the first team. By the end of his Barca career, he had played 100 senior games for the Spanish giants.
The Spanish international eventually moved on to Bayern Munich in 2013, where he achieved great success.
At Barca, he had won four La Liga titles, as well as six other trophies. With Die Roten, however, Thiago won the Bundesliga seven times, while winning another nine trophies.
The 30-year-old midfielder now plays for Liverpool at Anfield, where he might see out the rest of his trophy-laden career.
