The famed Barcelona youth academy or 'La Masia' as it known across the globe has developed some of the world's best players ever to play the beautiful game. Looking through the names of players who have came through the ranks, the embarrassment of riches on offer is enough to make even Roman Abromovich blush. 70% of the current squad have come through the ranks with superstars Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Puyol and Pique all home grown players. Lionel Messi has been with the club since he was 14. Barcelona is a club built on youth development and it is that philosophy that has yielded such success in the past. The problem is, La Masia is now struggling to keep talented players. Throughout the last few seasons, Barcelona have lost some of the world's best young players to other clubs who can offer lucrative contracts and guarantee first team football. Thiago and Oriol Romeu are two of the most high profile players to have left the club under such circumstances. Gai Assulin, Carlos Blanco, Josimar Quintero and Georgios Spanoudakis all left the academy system after being offered eye watering contracts at other clubs. The generation of stars developed at La Masia after Messi, Iniesta and co. look set to never reach the heights of former academy stars. Bojan Krkic, Giovanni Dos Santos and wing wizard Jeffren all failed to make the grade. More recently, Mauro Icardi was the latest huge loss for the club. Hailed as the next Lionel Messi, Icardi has lit up the Serie A after he became disillusioned with Barcelona. Whether by not being able to make the step up to the first team or moving to different clubs for lucrative contracts, Barcelona have lost some seriously talented players and worryingly it looks set to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Barcelona are still one of the world's best teams and could possibly be back better than ever this year but they need to rectify these glaring issues if they are to challenge for titles yet again. What do you think? Can Barcelona dominate club football this season or are they a spent force? Let us know below!
Barry O' Halloran has been a whatculture writer for the last two years and having recently graduated, now plans on writing about games & movies until his hands fall off. Follow him on twitter!
