Can Barcelonas Alarcon and Torre follow in the footsteps of Gavi and Pedri?

October 7, 2021. It was the international break, but it was far from a quiet day at La Masia. Barcelona’s renowned academy was still abuzz with the events of the previous night: one of their graduates who still lived in the club’s facilities had become the youngest player to feature for Spain at the age of 17.

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Gavi had been handed his international debut by then-Spain manager Luis Enrique in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals against Italy, in which La Roja came out 2-1 winners.

“No one could talk about anything else, to be honest,” recalls the former Barcelona sporting director Ramon Planes. Planes also remembers walking past the medical centre in the club’s training facilities, where he found a more reflective face. Sitting there quietly was winger Angel Alarcon.

Alarcon has become the latest Barca academy graduate to make the step up to the first team this season after catching the eye of coach Xavi. Since Memphis Depay’s departure to Atletico Madrid in January, the 18-year-old Alarcon has trained with the senior squad every day. He and the 19-year-old midfielder Pablo Torre have been the two young prospects regularly included in Xavi’s matchday squads in recent months.

Alarcon’s introspection after Gavi’s Spain debut was understandable: the journey to Barca’s first-team squad has taken longer than he might have expected. He may have even thought it was a lost cause at one point. Planes is better placed than anyone to explain why.

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“At the end of the 2020-2021 campaign, I spoke with the first-team manager Ronald Koeman and suggested taking two academy players from a really, really young age to the next pre-season tour,” Planes says. “They hadn’t even completed a season with the Barcelona B team, but they had the talent to go with the first team. They were Gavi and Alarcon.”

The club told both youngsters they would be part of the first team’s pre-season tour in the summer of 2021. But Alarcon did not make it: in the last game of the previous campaign, an under-19 cup tie against Deportivo La Coruna, the then-16-year-old forward tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and missed pre-season as a result (as well as the entire following season).

👥 Els jugadors del Juvenil A Coke Carrillo, Gavi, Alarcón, Diego López i Jaume Jardí han entrenat avui amb el Barça B.

🏠 La Masia, el futur del Barça!#FCBMasia💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/nFZL9VIxW1

— FC Barcelona – Masia (@FCBmasia) April 22, 2021

So, as Gavi was breaking through for club and country, his old friend and former team-mate was on the mend at La Masia. Planes recognised that Alarcon might be feeling disappointed about his own luck after Gavi made his international bow.

La Masia graduates at Barcelona

“I went to Angel to tell him this was also his day,” Planes says. “That the club had not forgotten about him, and that Gavi’s example should be a motivation for the evolution he had ahead. Those moments are tough for a young kid — he might have thought that he could be at Gavi’s place too and it’s normal in that situation. He was a bit down. I can remember at the end of the day how his mum came to thank me for that message.”

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Alarcon spent 14 months on the sidelines, but he has come back stronger than ever. Xavi has been hugely impressed by his performances in training, so much so that he gave the winger his La Liga debut in Barca’s 2-0 win against Cadiz last month. The teenager’s chances were helped by Barca being unable to sign a replacement for Depay, but he has earned his place among his team-mates. Some first-team players have been impressed by Alarcon’s shot power.

“The fact he has gone through all this process but is back proves he’s a kid with a strong mentality,” Planes adds. “He is in a good place in that regard.”

Planes resigned from his position as sporting director at the end of 2021 for personal reasons and is now working for Getafe. But having spent three years at Barcelona, he had ample time to see what Alarcon could bring to the team.

“He is not the typical silky and skilful winger you can picture from La Masia,” Planes says. “He is powerful with his movements, vertical and has a special sense for goal. He is always looking at the opposition box. He thrives in transition; he might be a bit ‘English’ in that regard. But when he’s on the pitch, things start to happen.

“He has played as a winger most of the time, but he can operate at any position in the attacking front. I actually believe he could end up as a No 9 at Barcelona.”

Alarcon, who was born in Castelldefels, the town on the outskirts of Barcelona where Lionel Messi lived during his time at the club, started playing at his local club Vista Alegre. He joined Espanyol aged six, where his performances were so noteworthy that by 14 both Barcelona and Real Madrid were battling to secure his signature.

He chose Barca and soon showed why Spain’s two biggest clubs had been so desperate to sign him: finishing as top scorer in the Kevin De Bruyne Cup in 2019, an under-15 tournament set up by the Manchester City star in collaboration with his boyhood club KVE Drongen in 2016. Alarcon scored 37 goals in his first two seasons with Barca.

🏆 Topscorer #KDBCup2019 🙌🏽

👏🏼 Alarcon Galiot Angel
👕 @FCBarcelona
⚽️ °15/05/2004
🥅 4 goals in 5 games#KDBCup #sportersbelevenmeer@RocNationSports @DeBruyneKev pic.twitter.com/KrXf5qPXvj

— Kevin De Bruyne Cup (@KDBCup) May 26, 2019

Alarcon’s rise was rapid until his knee injury. He spent last season recovering from that blow but has returned to his best form this campaign. He has scored nine goals in 17 league games with the Under-19 team this term, while he has made six goals contributions in as many games in the UEFA Youth League.

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That convinced Xavi to call him up to the first team, where he has been reunited with Gavi — one of his closest friends and biggest supporters. Alarcon and Torre are considered to be the youngsters who could benefit the most from the absences of Robert Lewandowski and Pedri through injury, with the Poland striker having suffered a hamstring strain last month and the midfielder ruled out with a thigh problem.

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Torre’s rise has been different to Alarcon’s. The midfielder joined Barca last summer after starring for boyhood club Racing Santander. Born and raised in Soto de la Marina next to the Cantabrian Sea in northern Spain, Torre came through the ranks at Racing and helped them earn promotion from the third tier of Spanish football last season with 10 goals and nine assists.

Torre has the skillset of a classic No 10: he has creative link-up play between the lines, can spot incisive passes in the final third and possesses a powerful striking technique. Like Alarcon, both Barca and Madrid were interested in the midfielder before the Catalan side got the deal over the line.

The signing was announced in March 2022, and Barcelona fans were quick to notice the similarities with the recruitment of another promising midfielder in 2020: Pedri.

Both Pedri and Torre were rare talents formed at academies outside of Spain’s big two. They play in similar positions and were both crucial for their boyhood teams. The Catalans used the same strategy to convince both to join the club: they assured them of a chance to earn their spot in the first team, they offered an attractive style of play and, in Torre’s case, Xavi spoke to him directly. Even the transfer fee was the same: a €5million (£4.4m; $5.3m) fee rising to €20m with add-ons linked to sporting achievements. Just as with Pedri, Torre immediately joined the first-team squad.

But despite the parallels between the two players, Torre has failed to have the same impact as Pedri. He has made just seven appearances for Barcelona, with just 227 minutes played for Xavi’s team so far. The midfielder has made his first appearances in La Liga and the Champions League and scored in a 4-2 win against Viktoria Plzen in the latter competition before Barca dropped down to the Europa League.

So why has Torre not played more?

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It’s complicated. Sources close to Xavi’s backroom staff, who asked to remain anonymous to protect their position like others in this piece, pointed to the time needed to adjust to Barcelona’s well-established style of play, particularly as a midfielder. Torre has not yet reached the level required for that, although his involvement with the first team is helping him adjust.

But Barca are also a different side to the one Pedri slotted into nearly three years ago. They are better covered in midfield, where Xavi has Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets at his disposal, along with Pedri. Franck Kessie signed from AC Milan on a free transfer last summer, while Sergi Roberto has been used in Pedri’s absence. All are ahead of Torre in the pecking order.

When approached by The Athletic, members of Torre’s camp said they remain calm about the midfielder’s situation. They are fully aware of the demands that come with playing for Barcelona and the difficulties of gaining playing time while the club are involved in the hunt for trophies. Barca are desperate for silverware in what remains of the season: they cannot afford to take many risks.

“It’s not a matter of pressure,” one source from Torre’s entourage said. “Last year, playing for his club at Racing Santander, being the focal point of the team and competing with the obligation to get promoted… from a personal level that was a huge amount of pressure to take in. In that regard, he’s been through stuff.”

The biggest change, though, has been Torre leaving his home for the first time and adjusting to a huge club along with everything that entails.

“It’s just everything,” the same source explained. “The facilities, the services around the team, the changes in terms of the impact everything has. But we feel everything is in place, Pablo is a better player now than two months ago, and he will be better in one month. He can feel it from a physical and a mental angle.”

Torre has been included in most of Xavi’s matchday squads this season. When he has not travelled with the first team, however, he has played for Barcelona Atletic, the club’s B team. He has played two matches under the current B team manager (and legendary defender) Rafael Marquez without making much of an impact — although that is to be expected given it is an unfamiliar team to the one he usually trains with.

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But Torre and Alarcon’s days in the B team look to be a thing of the past. Torre has shown signs of his talent in games such as the Copa del Rey round-of-32 tie against third-tier side Intercity, where he started and played well for the hour he was on the pitch. Meanwhile, Alarcon must take advantage of the injuries and inconsistent form of other Barca attackers. Barca’s European exit poses a further problem for both players given Xavi’s team have fewer games now and more time to rest key players. The Catalans can also not afford any more slip-ups in La Liga.

There is also the possibility of Torre leaving on loan in search of greater playing time this summer. Sources from his camp say the midfielder is happy to keep learning at Barca for now, but that he is ambitious and wants to improve.

Club sources admitted it is never the best plan to throw youngsters onto the pitch in critical moments for the team — they believe this is when the more experienced players should be taking responsibility. But if there is one team where youngsters regularly break through and don’t look back, it is Barcelona. Considering how Xavi has turned to youth since he was appointed as the boss in 2021, it would be no surprise if he gave both players more of a chance.

Alarcon and Torre — remember the names.

(Top photos, left to right: Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images and Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto, both via Getty Images)

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