La Masia is the single most important thing for Barcelona, and has managed to keep them competitive despite sustained periods when the club were struggling otherwise.
As always, the Catalan club have wanted La Masia to feed the first team, but under Deco, the academy has also become an important source of income.
According to MARCA, since Deco arrived as sporting director in 2022, Barça have generated around €100 million through the sale of 17 players formed in the club’s youth system.
That does not change the main purpose of La Masia. The first objective will always be to produce players for Barcelona, and the current squad proves that the model is alive.
Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Marc Bernal, Eric Garcia, Gerard Martin and Marc Casado all came through the club’s structure.
However, not everyone can stay. Barcelona produce talent faster than the first team can absorb it, and the club have often struggled in the past to sell well. Deco has clearly tried to correct that.
Deco has found value in these exits
Recent moves for Inaki Pena and Ansu Fati underline the point.
Barça have sold Pena to Panathinaikos for €3 million, while Monaco are expected to activate the €11 million option for Ansu. Those two operations alone would bring in €14 million.
Ansu Fati, Barcelona player
Barcelona will sell Ansu Fati to Monaco. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
Apart from that, the biggest return has come from Nico Gonzalez, who has brought the Blaugrana €21.4 million through his moves involving Valencia, Porto and Manchester City.
Other useful deals include Mika Faye for €10.3 million, Chadi Riad for €9 million, Pedro Fernandez ‘Dro’ for €8 million and Abde for €7.5 million.
Barça have also received money from exits such as Marc Guiu, Alex Valle, Unai Hernandez, Jan Virgili, Mika Marmol, Estanis, Marc Cardona, Alex Collado, Sergi Dominguez, Noah Darvich and Sergi Altimira.
Smart selling always matters
For Barcelona, this is not a betrayal of La Masia. It is a logical evolution. The club should always protect the very best academy talents. However, when a player has no clear route to Hansi Flick’s squad, keeping him too long helps nobody.
The smartest part is that Barça have often retained future rights. For example, Abde’s move included 20 percent of a future sale, while Ansu’s will include a 30 per cent clause. That means the €100 million figure can still grow.
Marc Casado of FC Barcelona
Casado could be the next one. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Marc Casado could be the next major transfer, with a possible fee valued between €20 million and €25 million.
For many years, Barcelona have been behind the eight-ball when it comes to selling La Masia players at the right prices.
It is a huge positive that Deco understands the pragmatism that this job requires, and the sales are definitely a major boost for Barça, not just for now but also for the future.