FC Barcelona confirmed that it has officially added two big stars to the first team squad.
“Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal are now official first team squad members. Previously registered with the U19s and Barca Atletic respectively, the two Blaugrana have been full members of the FC Barcelona first team squad since Tuesday,” a statement on the matter began.
“Pau Cubarsi played 24 competitive games with the first team last season. His debut came on Jan 18 2024, a few days before his 17th birthday during a Copa del Rey game away to Unionistas, and he has earned his spot in the starting eleven ever since. He is one of the Blaugrana players who will feature at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris,” the club said about center back.
As for Lamine, the Catalans noted that the explosive right winger “played no fewer than fifty games for the first team last season, scoring seven goals”.
“Also just a few days from his 17th birthday, he is proving a key player for Spain at Euro 24,” it concluded, about the scorer of a superb goal against France which knocked Les Bleus out of the mentioned continental competition’s last four.
In times of financial hardship, Barca has struck gold with Cubarsi and Lamine, who are both products of its famed La Masia academy.
Though he has since been dismissed, former head coach Xavi Hernandez, who came through La Masia himself, deserves credit for taking a punt on the youngsters and helping them become mature senior players despite still being in their teens.
Under Xavi’s successor Hansi Flick, both prodigies are expected to be integral parts of the first XI heading into the 2024/2025 season.
While Lamine’s spot on the right flank is undisputed, after he pushed Raphinha to the left wing in the post-Ousmane Dembele era, Cubarsi should form a central defensive partnership with Ronald Araujo when the Uruguayan returns from an injury he picked up during a Copa America quarterfinal clash with Brazil.
To ward off potential wolves at the door, Barca – which according to the EFE rejected a world transfer record $270 million bid for Lamine from an unnamed club suspected to be Paris Saint-Germain before the Euros – has its pearls tied down to contracts with huge release clauses.
For any party interested in acquiring either player without having to negotiate with their club, it will have to stump up at least $1.082 billion (€1 billion).
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