Barcelona chief Deco insists Pau Cubarsi will be staying.
The teenage defender has made his breakthrough this season.
Deco told Cataluyna Radio: “The idea is to always look at which players stand out in the youth team. And great care has been taken to leave space in the teams so that they could advance… It is impressive when you see him play, because of his maturity in the level of play. When I saw him with the Youth, Barça Atlètic, the World Cup… he impressed me. So did the others.
“Cubarsi is very young, he has things to improve. There is a process and a time. Barça cannot always play with all the young people, we have to be careful. Football does not have a clear logic, you have to look at the opportunities.”
“You have to play on merit, age doesn’t matter. The more quality, the better. But Lamine must have competition, Raphinha, Ferran… because that makes you grow. Challenges make you grow. And Cubarsi, with Koundé, Araujo, Iñigo… that’s wonderful. Young people should have it so they can see that it’s hard to play. They will stop being young one day. But we have to help them.”
