For more than a generation, FC Barcelona has been one of the world’s most successful football clubs and in big part thanks to the quality of talent that its La Masia youth academy has produced.

In the past, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué have starred at the highest level; now Lamine Yamal, Gavi and Pau Cubarsí are also shining bright amongst Europe’s elite.

A key element to Barcelona’s success is that all those players mentioned have gone through the academy before making the step up and succeeding at the first team of the club that nurtured them.

However, with so much talent, competition is fierce and so many players end up going elsewhere in search of opportunities to showcase all the skills they have developed at the La Masia academy.

So in the club’s traditional 4-3-3 formation and without including a certain Inter Miami trio, as everyone already knows everything about them, here is an XI of active players who have been through La Masia but are currently succeeding away from the big lights of FC Barcelona.

Since Víctor Valdés the only La Masia goalkeeper to have reached Europe’s highest peaks is Manchester United‘s André Onana.

Having joined Barcelona’s youth system from the Samuel Eto’o academy in his native Cameroon, Onana spent five years in Catalonia before moving to Amsterdam to play for Ajax in 2015.

Onana became a key part of the Dutch giant’s most successful spell in recent years by winning three league titles as well as reaching a Europa League final in 2017 and a Champions League semi final in 2019.

He moved to Inter Milan on a free in 2022 and despite staying for just a single campaign, two domestic cups and a Champions League final was enough to see Manchester United shell out £43.8 Million for the Cameroonian‘s services after just one season in Italy.

A distant second for Onana’s place in this side is Arnau Tenas who left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 and has shown flashes of brilliance in the French capital, but slipping to third choice behind Gianluigi Donnarumma and Matvei Safonov may force him to move elsewhere.

• Left Back: Marc Cucurella

Now an established European fullback, Cucurella initially joined La Masia from RCD Espanyol‘s youth setup before spending four years at academy level as well as another two playing for Barcelona B.

However, competing for a first team spot against Jordi Alba was very challenging and despite two loan spells at SD Eibar and Getafe, Cucurella eventually left Barcelona in 2020 without a single league appearance.

After a year at Getafe CF, Cucurella signed for Brighton where a solid campaign got him a £60 Million move to Chelsea the following summer.

Having been capped for Spain at every level from U16s onwards and now into a third season at the West London club, a 26 year old Cucurella had the summer of his life in 2024 when he assisted Mikel Oyarzabal‘s winning goal as Spain defeated England in the final of Euro 2024.

A very close second is Alejandro Grimaldo who left Barcelona’s B team in 2015 and following six solid seasons at Benfica, he ended up at Bayer Leverkusen where he became one of the best fullbacks in Europe whilst guiding his team to an unbeaten and historic Bundesliga winning season.

Despite his brilliance under Xabi Alonso in Germany, Grimaldo finds himself stuck behind Cucurella in the Spanish national team and will also suffer the same fate in this imaginary line up.

Riad was born in Mallorca and represents his parent’s homeland in Morroco on the international stage but actually spent the end of his youth career across the Balearic Sea at Barcelona.

Despite being a key player for Barcelona B, Riad made one first team appearance before moving on loan to Real Betis and then a £14 Million transfer to Crystal Palace where he has struggled for minutes so far.

Mika Mármol is a close second as he had also made just a single first team appearance for Barcelona but has since established himself as a solid centre back; firstly at FC Andorra and now for Las Palmas in La Liga.

• Centre Back: Óscar Mingueza

Mingueza joined La Masia at the age of eight and in his eleven seasons at the academy he won the UEFA Youth League with the club’s Juvenil A side before making the step up to Barcelona B.

In 2020, he made his first team debut under Ronald Koeman before two seasons and 46 appearances later he made a £3 Million move to Celta Vigo where he has been a regular starter ever since.

Mingueza has also played a handful of games for Spain by deputising at right back alongside Pedro Porro in the absence of Dani Carvajal.

• Right Back: Héctor Bellerín

Born in the city, Bellerín spent eight years at La Masia, before signing for Arsenal where he made 239 appearances and won three FA Cups as well as two Community Shields during his time in North London.

An early loan spell at Watford and then later on at Real Betis resulted in a Copa del Rey trophy before Bellerín returned to Barcelona where made just a handful of starts under Xavi Hernández‘s management.

Following a brief spell at Sporting CP, Bellerín is back at Real Betis where he has been an occasional starter his season for Manuel Pellegrini.

A close second in this position is Girona‘s Arnau Martínez who spent six years in the youth setup before moving to Northern Catalonia where he broke through in 2021 and became a key part of the club’s third place league finish and qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

• Defensive Midfield: Nicolás González

Having joined La Masia at the age of ten, González spent seven years in youth setup before graduating to the B team in 2019 and a couple seasons later, he made his way to the first team.

Standing at six feet and two inches tall, the holding midfielder was billed as becoming the replacement for Sergio Busquets but instead struggled to push the legendary midfielder out of the team.

The likes of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi meant that getting regular appearances in the starting line up was tough for González, leading to him going out on loan to Valencia before moving permanently to FC Porto for an £8.5 Million deal with Barcelona reserving a buy-back clause.

González starred in his two seasons at Porto, winning a Portuguese Cup and Super Cup double, catching the eye of Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City who decided to sign him for £50 Million in January of 2025 as a replacement for Rodri who had a long term injury.

Having started his career by struggling to replace Spain’s greatest ever defensive midfielder, González now finds himself as the backup for Spain’s modern-day, midfield great in Rodri, who tore his ACL in September.

Also in defensive midfield, Sergi Altimira spent seven years at La Masia before leaving Barcelona in 2019 and is now a keen starter for Real Betis.

• Centre Midfield: Riqui Puig

Puig spent five years at La Masia with a starring role in Barcelona’s UEFA Youth League triumph being the final act of his academy days before stepping up to play for the senior sides that same summer in 2018.

During his four seasons in the first team, Puig won the Copa del Rey and La Liga once each but never managed to nail down a regular starting spot leading to him leaving on a free for LA Galaxy in the summer of 2022.

During his three years in the USA, Puig has been the Galaxy’s standout player, leading his side to an MLS Cup victory in December 2024 where he finished the last 30 minutes of the final despite tearing his ACL during the game, an injury that has kept him out of action ever since.

Midfielder Ilaix Moriba was also a La Masia prodigy and even made over a dozen first team appearances before leaving for RB Leipzig who have since loaned him out three times to Valencia, Getafe and now Celta Vigo.

• Attacking Midfield: Xavi Simons

Born in Amsterdam, Simons joined La Masia at the tender age of seven and spent nine years at the academy before leaving to join Paris Saint-Germain, despite being seen as a prodigy amongst those at FC Barcelona.

Simons made his professional debut for the Parisian club as well as winning a league and cup double but was sold to PSV Eindhoven in 2022 where he had an excellent season, forcing PSG to trigger their £6 Million buy-back clause before immediately loaning him to RB Leipzig.

Simons had a very successful 18 months in the Bundesliga, winning a German Supercup as well as showing bundles of talent and flashes of brilliance alongside nailing down a regular spot in the starting line up.

In January 2025, RB Leipzig made the two year loan into a permanent deal by breaking their transfer record, signing Simons on a £50 Million + £30 Million deal for the now Dutch international who has 26 caps under his belt including a FIFA World Cup quarter final and Euros semi final.

Attacking midfielder Robert Navarro spent five years at La Masia before playing for Monaco, Real Sociedad, Cadiz and now Mallorca.

• Right Winger: Takefusa Kubo

Kubo joined La Masia at the age of ten and therefore had to relocate from his native Japanese homeland to move to Catalonia but after just five years was forced to return when FC Barcelona were found to have violated FIFA rules regarding the international transfer policy for Under 18’s.

Kubo made his professional debut at FC Tokyo where he spent three years and made enough of an impression to earn a move to Real Madrid who immediately loaned him out to Mallorca.

The Japanese forward never actually made a senior appearance for Los Blancos and after three more seasons on loan at Villareal CF, Getafe and Mallorca again, he was eventually sold to Real Sociedad for £6.5 Million.

Since joining the Basque side in 2022, he has played a pivotal role in La Real‘s attack with 21 goals in 91 league appearances and has led the San Sebastian club to the Champions League knockouts, a run that was ended by Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 last spring.

A close second for this position is Adama Traoré who played several seasons for the B team before moving to the Premier League where he has 240 appearances for Aston Villa, Wolves and now Fulham.

Morrocan international, Ilias Akhomach also spent time at La Masia before graduating to the first team; he is now a regular starter on the right wing for Spanish Club and former Europa League winners Villarreal.

• Left Winger: Sergio Gómez

Born on the outskirts of Barcelona, Gómez joined La Masia at the age of ten from cross town rivals Espanyol and spent eight years at the famous youth academy before stepping up to the B team in the 2017-2018 season.

Gómez left before making a first team appearance and in January of 2018 he joined Borussia Dortmund where he made his Bundesliga debut a few months later against VfB Stuttgart.

Having struggled for game time, making just one more appearances since his debut, the young Catalan was loaned out to Spanish second tier side Huesca before later being sold to RSC Anderlecht for £3.5 Million.

Gómez starred in Belgium, making 49 appearances across all competitions and winning the club’s player of the season award which also earnt him a £15 Million move to Man City, just one year after leaving Dortmund.

During his two seasons in Manchester, Gómez only made a couple dozen appearances but managed to be part of a Pep Guardiola side that won the FA Cup, Champions League, Premier League and Club World Cup.

In the summer of 2024, Gómez joined Real Sociedad for £9 Million and linked up with another former La Masia graduate in Takefusa Kubo as the Spaniard’s incredible versatility and ability to play on both wings, in midfield and left back has made him into a very valuable asset for La Real.

• Centre Forward: Abel Ruiz

Born in the city of Valencia, Ruiz left the Los Che‘s youth academy and moved to La Masia at 12 years of age before quickly becoming a teenage sensation in Catalonia.

Ruiz won the UEFA Youth League with Barcelona’s Juvenil A team in 2018 as well as starring for the Spanish age groups, winning the Under 17 and Under 19 European Championships in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

Meanwhile, the young Spaniard was struggling to break into Barcelona’s start studded forward line and despite regular appearances for the B team, Ruiz only made one first team appearance before being sold to Portuguese club Braga for £8 Million in January 2020.

His time at Braga was a successful one as he made over 120 appearances for the club across four seasons including victorious runs in the Portuguese Cup and Portuguese League Cup during 2021 and 2024 respectively.

Following his Portuguese League Cup victory, Ruiz moved back to Catalonia to join the then Champions League side Girona for a fee of £9 Million in July 2024 before linking up with the Spanish Under 23 team for the Summer Olympics, winning gold after beating France in the final.

Another former La Masia striker to watch out for is Marc Guiu, who spent 10 years at the youth academy before making the step up to the first team where he managed to score a 79th minute winner within 23 seconds of his league debut against Athletic Club in October 2023.

Guiu signed for Chelsea in July 2024 for £6 Million and already has a UEFA Conference League hattrick under his belt at just 19 years old.