Uruguayan impressed by the club’s La Masia academy and training facilities.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez has been impressed by the training facilities on offer at the club and its much vaunted La Masia academy, report Marca, and wishes that he had been able to enjoy such amenities earlier on his career.
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La Masia is known as one of the most productive and modern academy systems in world football, having brought through players including Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Pedro in recent seasons – and Suarez says that he wishes he had had the opportunity to access such facilities and levels of training during his formative years as a footballer:
“I’m impressed and surprised by the facilities. I wish I could have been trained like this.”
The Uruguayan also spoke about the additional things that are now considered as a vital part of a young footaller’s development, including diet and education, and again hinted that these are things he had missed out on during his career:
“I like the areas they have to protect the kids from everything, for their studies, their diet, their schedules. I was surprised by everything, especially the way they bring up the kids here. I wish I’d had the opportunity to be trained like this.”
Suarez spent most his teenage years in his native Uruguay, emerging as a brilliantly talented young forward at Nacional, before he was spotted by Eredivisie club Groningen and taken to Holland – but it was only when he signed for Ajax at the age of 20 that Suarez would’ve experienced the facilities and coaching that would be associated with clubs like Barcelona and Liverpool where he has subsequently played.
The Uruguayan is stepping up his return to first team action ahead of a potential competitive debut for Barcelona against Real Madrid, having scored twice for Uruguay in an international friendly against Oman following an assist in Saudi Arabia, and Suarez says that he can’t wait to take to the field in the Nou Camp:
I could never have imagined that I’d play at this majestic stadium one day.”