The Baby Barca which will come one day
The objective is that several youth players embed themselves in the squad
Barcelona need to make their squad younger. As well as experience and talent you need youth and hunger and freshness. Whoever the coach is, that stands true. One of the objectives for 2020-21 is to bring in young talents.
There are seven players who fit into this idea. Top of the list are Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig, who are being used this season. Ansu, at 17, has scored six goals and got one assist in 26 matches - 1091 minutes.
Riqui has played in six games, 146 minutes, and is earning Setien's confidence. Against Athletic Club Rakitic came on to bring experience and tactical knowledge, but the kids brought dynamism which changed the game.
Ronald Araujo (2 games, 104 minutes) played with Pique against Mallorca in the absence of Lenglet and Umtiti, while Alex Collado is a forward who can play across the attack and had five minutes against Valencia in La Liga.
Carles Alena, who has played 13 games at Betis, 2 assists, 766 minutes, is also going to be useful next season. Barcelona also have talented young attacker Pedri at Las Palmas, who has played 30 times with three goals and five assists for Pepe Mel's side.
Francisco Trincao is another new player who will bring life to the squad. They signed the Sporting Braga player for next season and he has 8 goals and 10 assists in 33 games, 1671 minutes.
These seven players are the future. Quique Setien's line up against Atheltic had an average age of 29. With the subs included it goes down to 28. By contrast, Bilbao's side was 25 years old on average.
