Top 15 best players to have graduated from Barcelona's La Masia academy
Even the great Lionel Messi came through the ranks of this prestigious academy.
One of the great joys of football fandom is watching a young player rise through the ranks as a talented academy player, before bursting onto the scene as a fully-fledged senior star. Barcelona’s La Masia stands as a testament to football excellence, having produced some of the best players in modern football. La Masia – which is Catalan for ‘the Farmhouse’ – is the name that is generally used to describe the Barcelona youth academy. It has become synonymous with inculcating the philosophy of Barcelona (Mes que un club).
La Masia has produced some of the finest footballers to have ever played the game at any level. While youngsters no longer stay at the dormitory, those who come through the Barca Academy are still viewed as La Masia graduates. The great school of football continues to churn out promising youngsters, but let us look at the 15 best players to have graduated from La Masia:
15. Lamine Yamal
He may be only 17 years old but has already shown enough to prove he is capable of leading the Catalan club to glory. Lamal has already won the European Championship with the Spanish National Team and has also won trophies with Barcelona. He is probably the best talent in the world of football and many consider him to win the Ballon d’Or in the next few years.
His teammates and even the coaching staff rate him very highly. With his consistent performance he is able to help his team to get the wins.
14. Pedro
Pedro is one of those who easily slots into the criminally underrated category. He played alongside Messi, Suarez and many more talented players and was often overlooked by neutrals as just another player from La Masia. Having played for Chelsea in England, as well as in Italy with AS Roma and Lazio, Pedro has proven his talent elsewhere and deserves recognition as one of the best players to come out of the academy.
13. Albert Ferrer
Ferrer spent the late 1980s at La Masia before breaking into the senior team in 1990. Over the course of the next decade, he proved himself to be a sturdy and reliable fullback. A true homegrown talent, he will always be viewed fondly by fans as one of their finest-ever right-backs.
12. Victor Valdes
Valdes is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the club’s history, having played 535 games and winning 21 major titles, including six LaLiga and three Champions League. He later retired in 2018 after spells at Manchester United and then Middlesborough but certainly spent his best years with the Catalan giants.
11. Thiago Alcantara
An incredibly gifted midfielder, the former Spanish international was cut from the same cloth as the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. Unfortunately for him, those two were still at their peak when he broke onto the scene. He would go on to prove his worth at Bayern Munich as an integral part of the Bavarian’s success throughout the 2010s. Later on, he joined Liverpool and spent some years there but unfortunate injuries forced him to retire earlier.
10. Cesc Fabregas
A youth player at Barcelona from 1997 to 2003, Cesc Fabregas spent eight seasons at Arsenal before being repatriated to the Catalan capital in 2011. Fabregas later enjoyed spells with Chelsea, AS Monaco and Como before retiring earlier in 2023. He will no doubt be remembered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation.
9. Guillermo Amor
Guillermo spent eight years in the Barcelona youth set-up before making his senior debut in 1988. Over a decade with the Calatan giants, the elegant midfielder won 17 trophies, including five LaLiga titles and a European Cup. Due to his long-term affiliation with Barcelona, later on, he spent time working within the club’s youth system after hanging up his boots.
8. Jordi Alba
Jordi Alba had a very interesting journey to success at the Camp Nou. The fullback developed in La Masia but later on left it to join Valencia, where he became a star and earned his place in the national team. Alba later joined the Catalan side and won 19 major trophies with the club before reuniting with his former teammates in the MLS side Inter Miami.
7. Gerard Pique
He played in the same youth teams as Messi and Fabregas from 1997, although he was deployed as a defensive midfielder in his early years. Manchester United signed him in 2004 but later on he once again joined the Catalan side and retired there. He has said many times that he wants to become the President of FC Barcelona in the future.
6. Sergio Busquets
He sat at the base of Barcelona’s midfield for an entire generation and it’s hard to imagine there was anyone on the planet better suited for this role. The Spaniard was essentially press-resistant, allowing the ball to quickly and efficiently progress into more attacking areas of the pitch without any unnecessary delay. He left in the summer of 2023 to join long-term teammate Messi in MLS with Inter Miami.
5. Carles Puyol
Puyol arrived at La Masia as a 17-year-old before becoming one of the finest central defenders in the club’s history. He became a cult hero as an inspirational captain with his uncompromising style of defending. He is arguably the most un-Barcelona-like player in this list.
He first started as a defensive midfielder, then to full full-back and later on became a centre-back. He won several trophies with the Catalan club and is still very much loved by the fans.
4. Pep Guardiola
Johan Cruyff called him one of the best midfielders in the world. Guardiola joined La Masai at 13 and played as a defensive midfielder. As Cruyff’s student, he took his principles to the next level and achieved a lot as a manager.
Barcelona under him were probably the best team ever to play football as they completely dominated every team. Later on, he became the manager of Bayern Munich and currently, he is managing Manchester City in the Premier League where he created many records as a coach.
3. Andres Iniesta
Plucked from Albacete at the age of 12, Iniesta never looked back. He steadily climbed up the youth ranks, making his debut aged 18 in 2002. He would go on to become one of the most decorated Spanish footballers in history, winning 35 trophies, including nine LaLiga titles and four Champions League.
He also played a key role for the national team to become the World Champions in 2010. His partnership with Xavi and Busquets is one of the most iconic in world football.
2. Xavi Hernandez
His technical quality, composure, vision, reading of the game and intelligence are right up there with the very best when compared to all the greats to have played the sport. Many claim him to be the greatest playmaker of his generation. He joined La Masia at 10 and then slowly progressed to become a legend.
After retirement, he managed Al-Sadd in Qatar and then later became the manager of Barcelona and helped them to win LaLiga and Super Cup, and helped the club in a very difficult situation.
1. Lionel Messi
Without a doubt, the best youngster to come from Barcelona’s youth setup and the best to ever play for the club. Messi joined La Masia in 2001 from Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, who he trained with since the age of six. He was so good that Barcelona agreed to pay for his treatment after he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.
He won many trophies with the Catalan side but unfortunately, his love affair with the club came to an end. Then he went on to join PSG and currently he is playing for Inter Miami.
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