Pau Victor could be another 'Fermin Lopez' case at low cost
Pau Víctor is one of the players called up by Xavi Hernández for this Sunday's match at Granada. The absence of Lewandowski and Raphinha led to his presence on the squad list along with Marc Guiu, another home-grown striker who is only 17 years old. Pau Víctor's call-up is particularly noteworthy as he is seen as a player who is ready to make the step up at any time.
His case is very reminiscent of that of Fermín Lopez. Pau Víctor signed for Girona as a youth player and made his debut with the first team at the age of 18 under Francisco, the current coach of Rayo Vallecano, in a match against Alcorcón in 2019. In the following season (2020-21) he played seven games and three in the Copa del Rey, also under Francisco.
With the arrival of Michel, in the 21-22 campaign, he no longer played a leading role, although he was on the bench in Girona's historic promotion match in Tenerife. The Girona club felt that for the following season he needed to play more regularly and he was loaned to Sabadell in the Primera Federación.
As happened with Fermín in his year on loan at Linares, where he scored 12 goals, Pau Víctor grew enormously in the Arlequinado jersey, becoming one of the best players in the category. In a very needy team, Pau Víctor took the lead and scored 7 goals and distributed 6 assists and was key for Sabadell to even fight in the upper part of the classification in the final part of the season.
Vital at Sabadell
Pau Víctor stood out with vital goals, but also for his quality in passing. Especially remembered is a ride against Atlético Baleares, with Sabadell with ten players, running halfway down the pitch in stoppage time and setting up Gualda for the winning goal. A spectacular action of power and quality. The signing of a Blaugrana youth team product, Cristian Herrera, in the winter transfer window helped him to improve his link-up play.
The striker returned to Girona for pre-season under the orders of Michel. Despite his good performances, such as a great goal against Olot, Girona decided to send him out on loan again, in this case to Barça Atlétic. However, in exchange for extending his contract for a year and remaining on loan until 2025.
Girona gave him a clause of 3 million euros. An affordable amount for FC Barcelona in case Pau Víctor continues at the same level in Primera Federación, where he has already scored 4 goals and has given one assist, and is more assiduous in Xavi Hernández's training sessions and call-ups.
Pau Víctor can, in this way, follow in the footsteps of Fermín López, who at the age of 20 has achieved his dream of joining the FC Barcelona dynamic after dropping down a step in the First Federation to learn the reality of football away from the comfort zone of the youth academy of a big club.
A path that Pau Víctor also opted for and which, for the moment, has already borne fruit with his trip to Granada and who knows, maybe a debut in the top flight at the Nuevo Los Cármenes.
