5 teenagers to look out for in the Barcelona International Champions Cup squad

#5 Abel Ruiz

Abel Ruiz

The youngest player and only the second player in the squad to be born in the 2000s, Abel Ruiz, was born on the 28th of January 2000 in Almusaffes, Valencia and started his footballing journey in the famed Valencia Academy before moving to La Masia in 2012.

The years that followed saw the young Valencian proving his mantle playing among the older age groups while racing through the ranks of the academy, first moving into the Barca Juvenil B team in 2015/16 season and then to the Barca Juvenil A team in the very next season and finally being drafted into the Barcelona B team for this season.

Ruiz made his first appearance for the Blaugrana B side, aged 17, on the 9th of April in 2017 in a 2-0 away win against CF Badalona in the Segunda B division and made his professional debut in August against CD Teneriffe in a 3-0 loss in the Segunda division while also making his UEFA U19 Youth League debut in the 2016/17 season scoring 2 goals in 7 appearances for the U19 side.

The year 2017 saw the 17-year old captaining the U17 Spain side to their record 9th U17 UEFA European Championship as well as guiding them to the final of the 2017 U17 FIFA World Cup, losing out 5-2 against England.

The Valencian born continued his impressive form making 26 appearances and scoring 3 goals in the Segunda Division for the reserve side in the 2017/18 season, as the B side was relegated to the Segunda B division, while also helping the U19 side win the 2018 UEFA Youth League making a total of 6 appearances, scoring and assisting a goal each.

Abel Ruiz is not the typical Barcelona player that comes out of the Academy. A boy who styles his game around the famous Dutch forward Marco Van Basten the 17-year old is a tall, strong, technically good player who loves to hold the ball well, play direct football and loves scoring goals just like the Dutch counterpart.

Ruiz recently signed a contract with the Blaugrana tieing the 17-year old till 2021 with an option of another additional 2 years along with a whopping 100 million euro release clause.

Ruiz is a naturally gifted right-footed player who is normally deployed as a Centre-forward but is capable of playing in either of the wings.