Ranking the 15 greatest graduates of Barcelona's La Masia | OneFootball

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One of the great joys of football fandom is watching a young player rise through the ranks as a talented academy player, before bursting onto the scene as a fully-fledged senior star. Just think of David Beckham at Manchester United, Raúl González at Real Madrid, Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, and even Bukayo Saka at Arsenal today.

Fortunately for Barcelona supporters, they have had a fair few examples of homegrown talents making the grade having come through their youth system. Indeed, over the years, the fabled La Masia has produced some of the finest footballers to have ever played the game at any level. And while youngsters no longer actually stay at the dormitory, those who come through the Barca academy are still viewed as La Masia graduates.

The most recent high-profile example of one such player introduced himself recently by netting a goal just moments after coming on the pitch. Yes, in the first 30 seconds of his senior debut, 17-year-old wonderkid Marc Guiu scored with his first involvement. This goal turned out to be the match-winner in a 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao. It looks as though Guiu has the world at his feet but it's too early to make any major predictions on his future just yet. However, it did get us thinking, who are the greatest La Masia graduates of all time?

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15 Gavi

There is still plenty of time for Gavi to rise higher up this ranking. By the same token, perhaps we've jumped the gun by including the 19-year-old on this list already. However, despite his young age, the teenager already has played over 100 times for La Blaugrana.

What's more, he helped fire his side to a league title when he played 36 times as Barca lifted the 2022/23 La Liga trophy last term. Having also won the Golden Boy award in 2022, Gavi looks set to be at the top for many years to come where he will likely secure his status as one of La Masia's finest products. If you're wondering why talented young teammate Pedri isn't on the list, it's because the 20-year-old actually came through the Las Palmas academy before immediately joining the senior set-up in Catalonia.

14 Pepe Reina

Now 41 years of age and still playing in La Liga for Villarreal, it's easy to forget that Reina started his youth career at Barcelona. He is actually the son of Miguel Reina who also played for the Spanish club as a goalkeeper between 1966 to 1973. In the early 2000s, the younger Pepe racked up 49 senior appearances for Barca himself, before leaving.

He spent three seasons at Villarreal, before making himself known to Premier League fans with a nine-year spell at Liverpool. Time spent at other major clubs such as Napoli, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Aston Villa, and Lazio proves just how solid he's been as a goalkeeper over the past few decades. And it's a testament to Reina's longevity that he's still playing in his 40s.

13 Mikel Arteta

The current Arsenal manager has steadily become one of the game's most respected coaches since taking over in north London and his best playing years were also with the Gunners, as he captained the club in the final stages of his career. However, he did actually spend time in Barcelona when he was first starting out.

Arteta joined the Spanish giants as a 15-year-old and spent time in La Masia learning his trade alongside other talented midfielders Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez. While those two went on to make it into the first team, the Arsenal boss went in another direction, spending time at Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers, Real Sociedad and Everton before joining the team he now coaches.

12 Pedro Rodriguez

Pedro is one of those players who easily slots into the criminally underrated category. Having played alongside so many other attacking greats such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, and David Villa, he was often overlooked by neutrals as just another cog in the machine during his eight-season spell as a senior Barcelona player.

However, you don't come through the academy to play over 300 games and win countless trophies without being a pretty special player. Having impressed at Chelsea in England, as well as in Italy with Roma and Lazio, Pedro has proven his talent elsewhere and deserves recognition as one of the finest La Masia products in the game to this day.

11 Albert Ferrer

Ferrer spent the late 80s at La Masia before breaking into the senior team in 1990. Over the course of the next decade, he proved himself to be a sturdy and reliable fullback, making 382 appearances for the club in the city he was born in. A true homegrown talent, he will always be viewed fondly by fans as one of their finest-ever right-backs.

Ferrer was a regular in the team between 1990 to 1998, featuring in 221 La Liga games – winning the competition on five occasions – before heading to Chelsea. He also represented Spain on the international stage 36 times.

10 Víctor Valdés

While fellow La Masia goalkeeper Reina left in 2002, it was around this time that Valdés was emerging as a genuine contender for a first-team spot between the sticks at Camp Nou. Indeed, in 2003/04, he claimed the job and in the next season, he was the undisputed number one, helping Barca win their first La Liga title in six years.

A Champions League winner on three occasions, Valdés won it all with La Blaugrana as he kept 239 clean sheets in 536 outings for the club between 2002 and 2014. He later retired in 2018 after spells at Manchester United and then Middlesbrough but certainly spent his best years with the Spanish giants.

9 Cesc Fabregas

While Fabregas later went on to enjoy a fine spell with Barcelona – winning eight trophies between 2011 and 2014 as he made 159 appearances – he of course built his reputation at Arsenal. The Spaniard left La Masia in 2003 aged just 16 with the hope of finding a clearer path to first-team action.

And it didn't take him long to show his quality in England, either, as he broke into Arsène Wenger's team almost immediately. He also became club captain by the time he was 21 years old. Fabregas later enjoyed spells with Chelsea, Monaco and Como before retiring earlier in 2023. He will no doubt be remembered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation.

8 Guillermo Amor

Another product of an older generation, Amor played in the middle of the park for Barca first as a youth player for a number of years, and then as a senior star for a decade between 1988 to 1998. During the course of his time at the club, he won a whopping 17 trophies, including five La Liga titles and the European Cup.

Interestingly enough, he ended his career after a brief spell in Scotland at Livingston in 2003. Due to his long-term affiliation with Barcelona, however, it's no shock that he then spent time working within the club's youth system after hanging up his boots.

7 Gerard Piqué

Not dissimilar to Fabregas, Piqué was tempted by a move to England as a youngster and so left the Barcelona academy in 2004 to join Manchester United. However, by 2008, he was back with his former club and this time he wouldn't leave until he retired 14 years later.

The centre-back was an absolute stalwart in the heart of the Barca defence, forming formidable partnerships with a number of teammates over the years such as Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano. He played 674 times in total for the club, winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League at least three times each.

6 Pep Guardiola

For a whole generation of La Masia hopefuls, Guardiola was someone to aspire to. The midfielder joined as a 13-year-old and took six years to break into the first team. He later became captain of the Catalan club before leaving in 2001 with 479 matches under his belt, six league titles, and many other major trophies.

Guardiola just about creeps ahead of others on this list because he also has had a huge influence on Barcelona as manager. Indeed, the 52-year-old is one of the club's most important coaches of all time and his all-conquering team, which won the Champions League in 2009 and 2011, played some of the greatest football the Camp Nou has ever witnessed.

5 Sergio Busquets

Busquets sat at the base of the Barcelona midfield for an entire generation and it's hard to imagine there was anyone on the planet better suited for this role. So composed, intelligent and secure in possession, the Spaniard was essentially press-resistant, allowing the ball to quickly and efficiently be progress into more attacking areas of the pitch without any unnecessary delay.

The midfielder left this summer to join long-term teammate Messi in MLS with Inter Miami and it may take a number of years before the club can produce an academy talent as good as Busquets again. He won it all with the club and will rightfully go down as a legend.

4 Andrés Iniesta

It's fair to say that La Masia has a real knack for producing technically outstanding midfielders and in Iniesta, the academy unearthed an absolute gem. What set him apart from his contemporaries was an ability to wriggle out of tight spaces with the ball glued to his feet, while he also knew how to make a big impact in the final third – as evidenced by his World Cup-winning goal for Spain in 2010.

Alongside Busquets and Xavi Hernández – more on him later – Iniesta was part of a midfield three that is arguably the best the club have ever had. It makes it all the more mindblowing that they all came through La Masia to reach the very peak of football together, both at club level and internationally. For many, the pale-faced maestro was the most exciting of the trio to watch as he played the game at a slightly quicker tempo.

3 Carles Puyol

For all the footballing IQ that allowed Barcelona to play such silky football over the years, they also needed a fearless figure to lead them through the battle at times. In Puyol, they had a lion – or "El Tiburón" (The Shark) as he was known by his teammates – at the back, happy to bravely go into duel after duel to win the ball back for his team.

That's not to say Puyol wasn't an extremely smart footballer either. Of course, as any La Masia graduate, he still had those core principles drilled into him. But he also had all the characteristics of a leader, which is why he wore the armband for ten years before retiring in 2014. Incredibly, the club actually accepted a bid from Malaga to sell the defender back in 1998 but he refused to leave having seen Xavi recently make his first-team debut.

2 Xavi Hernández

The midfield maestro lifted a mindblowing 32 trophies during his 875-game playing career with La Blaugrana. His technical quality, composure, vision, reading of the game and intelligence is right up there with the very best when compared to all the greats to have played the sport.

Not only that, but Xavi is of course now the manager of Barcelona and has already had success in this different role with the club. After all, still aged just 43, he won La Liga last term and looks capable of bringing a new era of success to the club. Born in Catalonia, he is a true legend of the area.

1 Lionel Messi

It just had to be him, of course. Messi is not just at the top of this list, but he is probably at the top of just about every list in football when it comes to ranking the greats. We don't even need to explain why, do we?

Ironically, of course, he isn't from Spain like all of the other players mentioned so far. The World Cup winner arrived from Argentina as a 13-year-old and would develop through La Masia to later become the club's record goalscorer and greatest-ever player. He truly is one of a kind and while the Barcelona academy will no doubt produce many more top talents over the coming years, there's every chance no one will ever be quite as good as Messi again.