Barcelona convinced 16-year-old La Masia midfield gem will become a future star
Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Hector Fort, and Pau Cubarsi have all forced their way into the Barcelona first-team setup from the La Masia ranks in the ongoing campaign.
And, soon enough, Barcelona expect another exciting young talent, Marc Bernal, to burst through the doors into the senior team, reports Didac Peyret of SPORT.
A special talent
Marc Bernal is only 16 years old, but he has become the talk among those who follow Barça Atlétic on a regular basis.
“It’s insulting how he protects the ball. He makes the defenders look small,” onlookers say about the midfield gem.
Bernal is a big-framed midfielder (1’85) for his age, capable of standing up well to more developed players, and has not taken long to convince Barça Atletic coach Rafa Marquez.
Bernal has started the last seven games for the reserve team Marquez has no doubts about his potential.
“That’s one of his advantages, the physicality he has, the height. He has a lot of quality to be able to play in the middle, play as an inside player on either side, this makes him more versatile. He is very young and also has to have several processes to be able to aspire at the top,” he said recently.
The teenage gem has found his place in the reserve team, despite competing with players like captain Marc Casado (20 years old) or another prodigious midfielder Pau Prim (18 years old), who have always been tipped for a place in the first team.
Barcelona convinced Bernal’s time will come
In the midst of the debate about the pivot midfielder of the future for the first team, Bernal is the one who has taken the lead among the home-grown alternatives.
In his years as a player in Infantil A and Cadete B, Bernal played as a winger, and even had problems adapting to his body after a big growth spurt.
But in Cadete A he began to develop as a pivot. Since then his evolution has been meteoric and this season he has accumulated four assists and two goals with the reserve team.
Xavi has included him in some training sessions and the club is convinced that the ‘Bernal moment’, will arrive in the first team sooner rather than later.
