Álvaro Cortés is the latest project for Hansi Flick to get excited about after the center back finally clocked first-team minutes at Mendizorroza. It has been a long five-year climb to the senior squad for the 21-year-old. He wasn’t an overnight sensation like Pau Cubarsí. It took grit and consistent fight to get to this point.
He’s the current Barça Atlètic captain and has a maturity that comes from a winding road through the youth ranks. The club first spotted him in Aragón back in 2021. Former youth directors Jordi Roura and Aureli Altimira were sold on the kid after watching him play against Sabadell, where he already looked like a veteran despite being a youngster.
Altimira was particularly struck by his composure, saying that “he already had the build and he also had the bearing of a fully formed player, something similar to what he has shown in his debut with the first team; he is a footballer who already seemed like a veteran.”
After a stint with Juvenil B, Barcelona decided a loan to CF Damm for the 2022-23 season was necessary to toughen him up. He worked there under former Argentina international Pablo Rotchen, who took it upon himself to transform the elegant ball-player into a more physical defensive presence.
Rotchen admitted that leaving the Barça environment was tough on the youngster, but he believes the loan was the turning point. He focused on the “animal” side of the game - getting stuck in and owning the penalty area. This development was key for Cortés to return to Barcelona having grown as a player.
A nasty injury in October 2023 almost derailed everything just as he was making noise under Rafa Márquez. Óscar López, who had him for a short time, describes him as an intense, aggressive defender who uses top-tier spatial awareness to make up for not being a pure speedster. López is certain that if Barça keeps betting on him, “Barça will have a center back for a long time.”
Albert Sánchez, who stepped in for the reserve team after Márquez left, agrees. He pointed out how Cortés breaks lines with his passing. Sánchez thinks Cortés has clearly outgrown the lower leagues, stating “the RFEF Second Division is a category that of course is too small for him.”
That passing combined with the “animal” side is exactly what Flick needs, but it has to be done at an elite level to succeed at the Camp Nou. Now the club needs to figure out how he fits into the team’s long-term plans at center-back, where a new signing is widely expected this summer.