One of the big pains for the Catalan media is seeing La Masia products snatched away and taken, usually, to Premier League clubs. It’s happened repeatedly, continues to happen, and there’s no sign it’ll stop in the near future.
The latest to be snatched from the conveyor belt is Adria Bernabe, with the Juvenil B player already informing Barcelona he’s leaving at the end of the season. A move to Manchester City has already been agreed for the 16 year old, and Catalan newspaper Sport say Barca are losing ‘one of the greatest talents of La Masia’.
Often, at this point, Sport would start throwing toys everywhere, but it’s different with Manchester City. The presence of Pep Guardiola and other former Barcelona officials, and the success they’ve had, means there’s a genuine understanding of why players would leave La Masia for Manchester.
Sport say neither Barcelona’s economic offer or sporting offer has been enough to make Bernabe turn down what he’s been proposed by Manchester City.
The Catalan newspaper don’t go into it this time, but previously it’s been explained that Manchester City put very impressive projects to players, showing youngsters how they’ll be expected to progress through the City Football Group.
Arsenal are also said to have been keen on Bernabe, but lost out to City.