Manchester City are set to poach yet another La Masia starlet

Manchester City are set to poach yet another La Masia starlet

Así jugó Juan Larios en ’The Cup 2019’ con la camiseta del Barça / | @yiyodani

15-year-old Juan Larios, who is currently playing for Juvenil B, is on the verge of abandoning Barça to join Guardiola in England

Manchester City are about to steal yet another star from FC Barcelona's La Masia academy. According to SPORT sources, the English club are in advanced talks with Juan Larios, a 15-year-old left-back who is currently playing for Juvenil B. 

Juan Larios is a well known name in youth football. A few years ago, he stood out at Sevilla's academy and that earned the interest from every Spanish club. Real Madrid looked set to win the race to sign him but Barça moved quickly and added him to La Masia. His talent was clear to see and the club promoted him to older age groups to aid his development. Larios has been a key member of the Juvenil B's XI but an injury saw him spend time on the sidelines. And now it appears he might never line up for Barça again.

On the 12th January, Larios will turn 16 and it's at that point he will be eligible to sign his first professional contract. Sources at Barça believe the player - and his family - have already made the decision to move to England and join up with Pep Guardiola's team. This comes at the same time Barça are in negotiations to improve the youngster's existing contract. The plan was to promote Larios to Juvenil A and make him the third highest-paid player in the academy behind Ilaix Moriba and Ansu Fati.

Known as 'Juanito' amongst his teammates, he's one of the most popular players in the academy. He's decided to take his chances in a new country with Manchester City, just as he'd previously decided to leave Sevilla for Barça. Larios will see some familiar faces in Eric Garcia (who made his Champions League debut last night) and Adria Bernabe, two former members of La Masia who also joined Guardiola at City. Everything suggests that 'Juanito' will be the latest starlet to view his future away from Barcelona.

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