Barcelona tie defensive gem down to new contract | OneFootball

La Liga giants Barcelona have on Thursday continued to work towards the future, by way of tying a highly-regarded member of the club’s academy setup down to a new contract.

That’s according to Diario Sport, who have provided an insight into the latest developments behind the scenes in Catalunya’s capital.

The player to have put pen to paper on fresh terms with Barcelona comes in the form of Madou Murcia.

Murcia, for his part, is a 16-year-old defender, who has long been tipped as something of a star in the making.

Initially trained as a left-back, recent years have seen the Malian shifted inside to a more central role, owing to his elite physical traits.

His leadership qualities have long been hailed, too, with Murcia having acted as captain at a number of age groups whilst progressing through the ranks at La Masia.

The stopper is currently plying his trade with Barca’s Cadet A outfit, albeit with his season having been heavily interrupted by a series of fitness problems.

Nevertheless, Murcia maintains the backing of the entirety of the coaching staff at the club, in turn rewarded for his long-term excellence by way of a new deal on Thursday.

As per the aforementioned Sport:

‘Madou has signed his first professional contract in the presence of the youth football director Jose Ramon Alexanko and the manager responsible for the youth academy Joan Soler.’

Conor Laird | GSFN