There are so many signs that Barcelona have moved away from their traditional approach of developing youngsters and getting them into the first team, but this would be one of the clearest.
If you went back fifteen years and knew they had a young midfielder who was captain of the B team, tidy in possession, technically brilliant, mobile and able to look after themselves, then you would expect them to be in the first team very quickly.
Times have changed, and it sounds like their latest version of that player will simply be sold on.
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Gianluca Di Marzio have reported that Serie A side Sassuolo are heavily interested in signing Monchu – a young midfielder who captained the B team last season.
It’s suggested that his game is modeled on Xavi and Thiago Alcantara, so there has to be a place for him in that first team.
Instead it now looks like he’ll be heading off to Italy although there’s no fee mentioned at this point, you ahve to imagine it won’t be a substantial fee.
The fans might be hoping that Barca have an option to buy him back in a few years once he’s developed, but it’s depressing to see that the first team is now full of ageing veterans who aren’t world class, and they won’t be about in a few years either.
It shows why Barca are regressing and the fans must be worried that they will hit a really lean period when Lionel Messi retires, but it appears inevitable at this point.