Top European club ‘copies’ Barcelona academy model: report

Historically, Barcelona has had great success when it comes to developing young talent.

In recent years, stars such as Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and, more recently, Marc Casado have emerged from the academy.

The success of The Masia It has not gone unnoticed in Europe and it seems that many clubs have begun to imitate the Barça model.

PSG tries to imitate the Barça model

One of the clubs that seeks to ‘copy’ the Barcelona model is Paris Saint-Germain.

As reported by Diario AS, PSG has embarked on a major revamp of its youth academy, inspired by none other than Barcelona’s historic youth development system.

The transformation began with the appointment of Luis Enrique as coach in July 2023, bringing with him a deep knowledge of the Blaugrana philosophy and style.

The French capital club has invested €300 million in a new training center in Poissy, with the aim of reflecting Barcelona’s success in developing young talent for the first team.

The goal is clear: to cultivate a smooth transition from youth players to the senior team, minimizing the adaptation period normally required when young players leave the academy.

Under Enrique’s leadership, PSG not only adopted a unified style of play throughout its youth ranks, but also began integrating young stars into the first team.

Players like Zaire-Emery, Maiolo, Mbaye and El Hanache have had opportunities to shine and they have not disappointed either.

This approach is reminiscent of how Barcelona has historically promoted its youth players such as Xavi, Iniesta and, more recently, Gavi and Yamal.

Yohan Cabaye, appointed director of the training centre, has been instrumental in finding and bringing together the best young talents in the Ile-de-France region.

The new system, already implemented for the PSG U19 and U17 teams, follows the model drawn up by The Masiafocusing on a tactical and philosophical alignment with the first team approach.

Only time will tell if PSG’s strategy will bear fruit in the long term. But for now it seems to be working very well.