Barcelona’s La Masia academy has firmly established itself as one of the world’s best footballing academies in recent years.

Its graduates have been pulling Xavi Hernandez’s side out of neck-deep water time and time again, and it is clear that the quality of players graduating is on the rise.

From the generation of Riqui Puig and Carles Alena, La Masia made a big breakthrough when Ansu Fati established his name with the first team.

From there, there has been no looking back with Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, and Alejandro Balde all establishing themselves.

The next big thing

According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Xavi Hernandez and Deco already have their eyes on La Masia’s next big sensation.

The duo considers Marc Bernal to be the academy’s most talented player in all stages of La Masia and they trust him very much.

A few months ago, Bernal was the captain of Barcelona’s Cadet A. However, he has already secured a promotion to Barça Atletic.

In fact, he has even started six games for Rafa Marquez’s side.

One for the long haul

At just 16 years of age, Bernal is indeed still very early in his development. Yet, an inbuilt advantage he has over his peers is that the position he competes for is not well-covered in Xavi’s squad.

Bernal is a holding midfielder by trade, and it is no secret that Barcelona are far from replacing the departed Sergio Busquets.

The teenager could thus be the Catalans’ solution in the defensive midfield for the long haul. Notably, he has a knack for scoring goals as well, a trait not usually associated with players in his position.

Bernal is currently in Indonesia to take part in the U17 World Cup, and Barcelona will have their eyes fixed on him to evaluate his quality.