A jaw-dropping XI of the highest-value La Masia graduates: Messi, Yamal, Simons…

La Masia was built in 1702, would you believe? It was an old Catalan farmhouse. It wasn’t until 277 years later that one of the staff had the smart idea to use La Masia to house the young’uns in the youth team from outside of Barcelona.

Some of the best players in the world come through the ranks at La Masia, and whether they stay local or not, they have a tendency to have a big impact on the football world.

We’re taking a look at an XI of the most valuable La Masia graduates currently in the game, according to Transfermarkt.

GK: Andre Onana – €35m

Onana’s journey into European football has been a long and difficult one. The occasionally unconventional keeper grew up in Cameroon and attended the Samuel Eto’o Academy in his home country.

He came to La Masia aged 14, and because he was under 18 and not an EU citizen, he had to go on loan to two separate teams to comply with the bureaucratic red tape.

After five years (including the loans) he joined Ajax’s youth team, graduated into the first team, was banned for doping, joined Inter in Serie A a season later, and is now the number 1 keeper at Manchester United.

RB: Hector Fort – €10m

Fort is an 18-year-old full-back who only broke into the Barca first team last season.

Xavi gave Fort his senior debut against Royal Antwerp in the Champions League last December, and the Catalonian local went on to make ten appearances throughout the remainder of the season.

He’s now signed a deal that will keep in Barcelona until 2026. Hansi Flick hasn’t been frightened of playing the kids during his short reign at Barca so far, so we may see more of Fort this season.

CB: Eric Garcia – €20m

Garcia is another local boy, born and raised in Barcelona and La Masia. He spent nine years at the old farmhouse before joining Manchester City’s youth ranks.

He was given first-team opportunities at City but never really made the starting centre-back spot his own, facing tough competition from John Stones, Ruben Dias et al.

Garcia returned to Barcelona in 2021, but spent last season on loan with Girona, helping them to qualify for the Champions League in a campaign that will go down in Girona’s history.

He’s back at Barca now and will be hoping to kick on under Hansi Flick.

CB: Pau Cubarsi – €30m

Cubarsi is from a tiny little town in Girona (which is also in Catalonia) called Bescano. He’s a teenage sensation.

His opportunity in the Barca first team came during the second half of the 2023-24 season, and he didn’t just grab it with both hands, he damn near choked it to death.

We often see wingers and number 10s, or the occasional wing-back breaking through at a young age, but a 17-year-old centre-back playing regularly for Barcelona and a fully-fledged Spain international is crazy.

He claims that he doesn’t do many interviews because he grew up speaking Catalonian so his Spanish isn’t great. Fair play.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Barcelona’s top 25 goalscorers in La Liga since 2000?

LB: Alex Grimaldo – €45m

Grimaldo was born in Valencia but joined La Masia when he was in his early teen years. He spent seven years in their youth set-up and the B team before signing for Benfica shortly before his 21st birthday.

Grimaldo was integral to Benfica during his time there. He was electrifying down the left flank and became a favourite at the Estadio da Luz. Grimaldo joined Bayer Leverkusen last summer, just in time to help them accomplish the unthinkable.

CM: Fermin Lopez – €30m

Fermin is Andalusian by birth but his formative years were spent in Catalonia. He played at local academies before spending four years in Real Betis’ youth setup. By age 13, he’d moved to La Masia, graduating to the B team in 2022.

One year with the B team set Fermin up for promotion to the first team, and his breakthrough came last year, often filling in for the injured Pedri or Gavi. Speaking of Gavi…

CM: Gavi – €90m

Another native Andalusian, Gavi’s rise has been meteoric. Like Fermin, he came to Barcelona via Betis, and spent six years honing his skills at La Masia. His senior debut came in 2021, and the central midfielder hasn’t looked back since.

Gavi won the 2022 Golden Boy award, took Xavi’s number 6 shirt, and has just returned from injury as we speak. Big things to come — you can quote us on that.

READ NEXT: 5 La Masia academy graduates currently thriving away from Barcelona

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the 24 players Barcelona have signed from the Premier League?

CAM: Dani Olmo – €60m

Olmo’s career path is a strange one. Born in Barcelona, he actually joined Espanyol’s academy before swapping El Glorioso for La Masia at the age of nine.

After graduating La Masia, rather than progress into the first team, Olmo signed for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, and stayed with them for six years.

In 2020, RB Leipzig snapped up the number 10-cum-winger and he was f*cking excellent. He was one of the standout players in Spain’s Euro 2024-winning team, having only been allowed to play due to an injury to Barca’s Pedri, ironically.

Barcelona decided it was time to admit their mistake, and spent €60m to bring Olmo back to the club.

RW: Lamine Yamal – €120m

If Pau Cubarsi is a teen sensation, Lamine Yamal is, without doubt, a phenomenon. It was always going to take a gem from La Masia to replace Lionel Messi on Barcelona’s right-hand side, and that day finally seems to have arrived.

You know all about him of course—baptised by Leo Messi, standing ovation on his senior Barca debut, Euro 2024 Young Player of the Tournament, only turned 17 a few months ago…

Listen, if he’s going to be anywhere near as good as Messi, he’s going to have to continue tearing it up for the next twenty years, and that’s not easy. Decent start, though, eh?

LW: Xavi Simons – €80m

Simons was born in Amsterdam but grew up in Spain. He was part of the La Masia setup from the age of seven, leaving at the age of 16 to join PSG — Mino Raiola gonna Mino Raiola.

He joined PSV Eindhoven on a permanent deal a year later, was absolutely brilliant, and was resigned for PSG the following year when they activated a €6m buyback clause in his contract.

Simons has been on loan at RB Leipzig ever since, but a massive move or full return to PSG looms, you feel.

ST: Lionel Messi – €30m

La Masia’s most famous and successful graduate of all time is, of course, Lionel Messi. That is unlikely to change any time soon, if ever.

Messi is from Rosario, Argentina, and didn’t come to La Masia until the age of 13. He spent three years there, in a little farmhouse cocoon, before emerging as the greatest footballer the world has ever seen.

Might try and figure out how to get a kid enrolled in La Masia and start Project Messi now.