They passed by La Masia
Rafa Mir, Sergi Canós and Diego López, three Valencia footballers with a Barça past
This Sunday, the Che team will visit the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to face the Blaugrana team for matchday 21 of LaLiga
FC Barcelona has one of the youth teams that produces the most footballers every year. So it is logical that some do not make it to the first team and have to look for other destinations. On the other hand, it can also happen that they simply do not reach the elite. However, in this case, Valencia has in its ranks three players who passed through La Masia and who subsequently made a career in the world of football away from the Catalan city.
The subjects in question are Sergi Canós, Diego López and Rafa Mir. The first two were under the discipline of the coordinators of the Catalan youth system for three years. On the other hand, the last of those mentioned has only been there for two years. UEFA considers youth players of a club to be those who have been in its ranks for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21. Therefore, the third of those mentioned cannot be called as such.
Sergi Canós and Diego López, Barça youth players
Sergi Canós (left winger, 27 years old) arrived at FC Barcelona in 2010, from CF Nules, the team from his city. He spent three seasons at La Masía, from the youth team to the U18 A. Despite being a player appreciated within the club for his good characteristics, he ended up leaving the Catalan club due to an offer from Liverpool. The 'red' team took a 16-year-old to finish training him and he even debuted, in 2016, with the first team, under the guidance of Jürgen Klopp. He established himself in the Premier League enrolled in the ranks of Brentford and, after several loans, he ended up being transferred to Valencia for 250,000 euros in the summer of 2023.
On the opposite side gallops Diego López, a 22-year-old from Granada trained in the lower categories of Sporting de Gijón. He left the Asturian team in 2017 to sign for Real Madrid's Juvenil C team, where he spent one season. Afterwards, he joined FC Barcelona. At La Masía he spent three seasons, divided between the Juvenil B and A teams. Finally, he went on a free transfer to Valencia's reserve team and has managed to reach the first team.
Rafa Mir also had his time at Barça
The 27-year-old centre forward cannot be considered a Barça youth player according to UEFA criteria. He arrived in 2009, from Ranero, at the age of 12, and spent two seasons as a child at La Masía. He ended up signing for Valencia Mestalla, although before that he spent a season in the youth team of Real Murcia. In his professional stage, he was owned by Wolverhampton for 2 million euros, from 2018 to 2021, when he was signed by Sevilla. The Andalusian team owns his rights, but has loaned him for a season to the club that trained him for 6 years.
He is experiencing a complicated situation in the sporting field. He has played 7 matches between LaLiga and Copa del Rey, in which he has scored one goal and assisted on one occasion. However, the club does not count on him and they have already made this known to the player and Sevilla, according to Estadio Deportivo. He has also been out for several months due to discomfort in his quadriceps.
Of the three mentioned, only Diego López is expected to start this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. in Montjuic. However, the right winger finished the match against Real Sociedad with a knock and might not be in the starting eleven put together by Carlos Corberán. Canós may have his chance from the bench, while Rafa Mir will probably not be called up.
