5 players who you didn’t know graduated from Barcelona's academy

#3 Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta

Current Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta started his career at Barcelona's La Masia, making his debut for the now-defunct Barcelona C in 1999. Unlike Cruyff, Arteta never made a senior appearance for Barcelona, as he failed to break through despite earning recognition for his immense potential.

The Spaniard moved to PSG on loan before making a permanent switch to Scottish giants Rangers. After making a brief stop at Real Sociedad, which was Arteta’s dream club, he arrived in the Premier League with Everton.

Arteta was a mainstay at Everton, boasting 209 appearances for the club, registering 35 goals and as many assists.

Arteta was educated in La Masia, played for PSG, slugged it out in Scotland at Rangers, captained a defensive, counter-attacking team in David Moyes' Everton before captaining Wenger's Arsenal to two FA cups and then learning under Pep at City. Not a bad footballing education.

— Luke (@ekulkun) December 16, 2019

Mikel Arteta was regarded as one of the finest Premier League midfielders at the time, which earned him a move to Arsenal. In 150 appearances for the Gunners, Arteta found the back of the net 16 times, along with registering 11 assists.

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#4 Adama Traore

Adama Traore

One of Barcelona’s 'Lost Sons', Adama Traore, began his professional career at Barcelona's esteemed La Masia academy. The current Wolves winger was regarded as one of the best coming through the youth system, making his way to the first team in the 2013-14 season.

The Spaniard made his La Liga debut for Barcelona at the tender age of 17, coming on as a substitute for Neymar.

However, Traore would make just four appearances for Barcelona. managing to score a goal in his 93-minute appearance on the pitch. The 25-year old moved to Premier League side, Aston Villa, in search of regular first-team football. After a stop at Middlesbrough, Traore finally arrived at West Midlands.

🗣 — Tata Martino (former Barcelona coach): "Adama Traoré was a boy ready to make the big jump in Barcelona." [ser] pic.twitter.com/zXPIwmeYgB

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) November 14, 2020

Adama Traore has earned his reputation at Wolves, making 125 appearances for the club.

Despite recent struggles, the Spaniard has undeniable potential, as he showed consistently in the 2019-20 Premier League season. The Barcelona graduate has tallied nine goals and 18 assists during his time in the West Midlands.

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#5 Mauro Icardi

Mauro Icardi

One of Europe’s most lethal goal-scorers - Mauro Icardi - once plied his trade at Barcelona. The Argentine was a colossus from his youth days, as he scored over 500 goals for youth clubs back home.

Despite strong interest from the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal and Sevilla, Icardi chose to follow fellow city-dweller Lionel Messi’s footstep.

Born in Rosario like the Argentine wizard, Icardi moved to Catalonia around the start of the Pep Guardiola era. However, Pep Guardiola’s tactics at Barcelona involved the use of attacking midfielders/ false 9 in place of conventional strikers. That forced the Argentine to move to Serie A for more first-team football.

The move to Italy turned out to be the correct one, as Icardi earned his name as a lethal goal-scorer during his time at Inter Milan, making 152 goal contributions (124 goals, 28 assists) in 219 appearances for the Nerazzurri.

The 28-year old now plays for PSG, for whom he has scored 28 goals and provided ten assists in 54 appearances.