An ex-Real Madrid and Barcelona star has pulled back the curtain on the rise in prominence of certain La Masia alumni within Xavi Hernandez's squad right now, as the Blaugrana prepare to face their eternal rivals in ElClasico.
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By the end of his time with River Plate in 2001, Javier Saviola was touted as football's new golden boy as the world rushed to usher in a successor to Diego Maradona's throne. He was named South American Footballer of the Year in 1999 and won both the Golden Shoe and the Golden Ball awards in the 2001 FIFA U20 World Cup. It was these performances that ultimately led Barca to spend some of that Luis Figo money on this prodigious young talent, and so Saviola signed with the Catalan giants in 2001.
The general consensus around his time in Catalonia is that he underperformed, given the lack of silverware he won with the LALIGA champions, but 72 goals and 30 assists in 172 matches is a pretty respectable return for a young footballer. After various stints across Europe, one of which included a spell at Real as he became the last man to make a direct switch between the two clubs, Saviola went into coaching, with his most recent position being with Barca's U19 team.
It was during his time in the Blaugrana's youth set-up that he encountered a fellow wonderkid in Lamine Yamal. The Spanish winger has been on a record-breaking spree in 2023/24 and seems to only be getting better under his manager Xavi. Saviola has now lifted the lid on what it was like working with the teenage sensation alongside another La Masia alumni who recently burst on to the scene in Marc Guiu.
"Yes, Barca have always been characterised by having a [certain] philosophy of football and play," the ex-attacker revealed in a LALIGA press conference Soccer Laduma attended.
"They've done this throughout their history with the likes of Xavi [Hernandez], [Andres] Iniesta, and [Lionel] Messi himself who was in La Masia. They trained them as a person and a player, and these great players have been brought up, football wise, in La Masia.
"I've had the privilege of being in La Masia with them and having the possibility of training these players. I've also had the opportunity of my debut being at 16 years old when I was in Argentina, so I've also gone through the situation Guiu or Yamal are going through.
"So for me it is an enormous pleasure to advise them, with Oscar Lopez and all the staff that was there, and I feel very proud to see them making it on the big arena.
"They're very young kids but they are very, very well prepared. Xavi was very surprised when he realised that, not only at a football level, but the way they made it to the first team.
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"So therefore, for us, that's where we feel very proud. I hope Barcelona will continue to bring up young players, not only for Barcelona but also for world football. Because, for me, I believe that players at a grassroots level is the best thing an institution can have."
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