#1 Barcelona academy product Abel Ruiz still young
FC Barcelona’s La Masia has produced a number of promising players in the last decade with Abel Ruiz another name looking to graduate to the first team in the near future. But he is still 19 and not ready to meet the demands of La Liga and certainly not ready to be the understudy of Luis Suarez.
By signing Lacazette, Barcelona give Abel Ruiz ample time to develop because as Suarez slows down in the following few seasons, Lacazette can step up and replace him in the big games, while Ruiz can develop without hogging too much of limelight.
If Barcelona goes for someone like Maxi Gomez of Celta (22) or Marcus Rashford (21) instead of Lacazette, it would probably mean an end for Ruiz's future at Barcelona as they already have a young attacking line-up with Ousmane Dembele and Malcolm in the ranks.
Add to that the strikers mentioned above and you have no place for Ruiz in the team. Barcelona would thereby do better by signing Lacazette instead of making Ruiz insecure by signing another youngster.