Barcelona see top-rated centre-back poached from academy by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen have poached one of the top talents from Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy, confirming the signing of Italian centre-back Andrea Natali. A regular for the Italian youth teams, Natali was a key part of the under-17 side that won the under-17 Euros this summer.

Regarded as one of the brightest talents at Barcelona, he was playing for their under-17 side, having previously passed through the academies of Bologna and Udinese. The Milan-born teenager was out of contract this summer though, and has decided to head to Xabi Alonso’s exciting Leverkusen team.

As a general rule, Barcelona have done a decent job of retaining their best young talents in recent years, but the upcoming exit of Marc Guiu and Natali’s departure will not sit well at Barcelona. At the very least, the Blaugrana are well-stocked at centre-back for several years to come, with Pau Cubarsi coming through, and Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo still in their mid-twenties.