The sports vice president Rafael Yuste spoke openly about the current situation of the Blaugrana during the presentation of the international tournament of the Barça Academy World Cup, which celebrates its tenth edition in 2023 and which includes Alexia Putellas, captain of the Barça Femenino and two-time winner of the Ballon de Gold and of the 10 of the first men’s team, Ansu Fati of godfathers. “The academies are part of our club’s shield. We have seen Ansu Fati excited, remembering where he came from, his origins, which are grassroots football and La Masia”, added Yuste, who appreciated the statements of Bori Fati, the footballer’s father, upset by his son’s little participation in the eleven from Xavi. “I have two children. Sometimes you get carried away by emotion and think about your children and not the context. Ansu is identified with the project, he wants to succeed here. I have told his father and him that the one who decides the lineup is the coach, â€explained Yuste.
However, the sports vice president did not ensure the youth squad’s continuity for next season. “I do not guarantee anything 100 percent because it does not depend on me. We are in a club with a lot of people and they give us their message and their vision. Yes, I can say that Xavi has Ansu Fati. He is a player trained at home, an example and he has to improve every day. I don’t want any player trained at home to leave â€, he added.
And from the current Barça 10 that he went to for many years. Leo Messi, now with the 20 playing in Paris. A situation that Rafa Yuste does not like at all, who drew on the romanticism that the Argentine’s return to Barcelona would mean and who confirmed that there are talks. “Leo and his family know the affection I have for them. I participated in the negotiations to renew him that did not end well and I ended up with the thorn in him that he could not continue at the club. Of course I would love him to come back because of what he could represent and because beautiful stories can end well. And yes, we have contacts with Messi. He is in love with the club and Barcelona and we are in love with himâ€, said Yuste.
Barcelona, ​​led by football director Mateu Alemany, is already drawing up a feasibility plan to be able to present it to LaLiga. “We are preparing it to present our accounts and we will see what happens with Messi. He is a PSG player and we cannot interfere. There is a good relationship with him and if he leaves it is because fate makes you return to where you should be, â€he declared.
Speaking of other homegrown players, the name of Gavi came up, on target due to the comments that have been distilled from his call-up with Spain. “Gavi is a boy that I am very close to, everyone is happy with how he is working and facing the games. With his commitment and his work, he helps us all a lot. If there is a campaign, let those who do it keep it. Here we are very happy with him and he is very focusedâ€.
Regarding the Negreira Case, Yuste pointed out that “UEFA is not going to take us out of the competition. The president’s explanations about the Negreira case will arrive next month â€and he confirmed that next year Barcelona will play at the Estadi OlÃmpic de Monjuïc. “We hope that soon we will be able to explain the structure of this round of financing that can be closed shortly,” he said.
The Barça Academy Cup, the most important event of the year for all the Barça Academy in the world, specifically on four continents. Once the test was recovered during Holy Week last after the pandemic, this 2023 it returns to recover pre-covid figures, increasing by 50 percent the participation of boys and girls from four continents between the ages of 6 and 14 in the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper from April 3 to 6. “1,600 children from 34 Barça Academy clubs will come. It is a very nice proposal and I am delighted to be able to help in this project to train the boys and girlsâ€, explained the ex-Blaugrana Sergi Barjuan, now the sports director of the project.
In total, there will be 152 teams that will take part from 19 countries and that will play a total of 553 games during the four days of competition. This 2023 the teams will represent a total of 34 Barça Academy and Barça Academy Camps from around the world. But the main novelty is that after nine editions in which the competitions were held with mixed teams, this year there will be an exclusively female edition with the participation of 102 girls who will seek to be the first to inaugurate the record in the Sub12 and Sub14 categories. “We are very pleased to have achieved it. Important players like Jana Fernández or Eric Garcia have come out of this campusâ€, recalled Yuste.
These ten teams divided into four in Sub12 and six in Sub14, come from the Barça Escola Barcelona, ​​from Perfection Catalunya, from Italy, from Mexico and from Japan. For this tenth edition there will be a total of two Barça Academy debutants; the Barça Academy Pune (India) and the Barça Academy Hiroshima (Japan), as well as the athletes from the Barça Academy Camps in Puerto Rico. It will also be the time for the return of various Barça Academy that could not come last year because the pandemic was having a hard impact in their respective territories, as now in the schools in India and Singapore.
The Barça Academy World Cup will kick off on Monday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m. at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, with the opening ceremony. The first matches will then start at 12:00 noon, when the six categories will begin: the sub8, sub10, sub12 and sub14, and the female sub12 and sub14. The finals of the competition will be on Thursday, April 6, starting at 10:00 a.m. on Campo 7 of the Ciutat Esportiva, followed by the women’s under-14 final and the awards ceremony at the Estadi Johan Cruyff (1:00 p.m.).
