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Barcelona have landed an English talent, as the Blaugrana bring the best of British to Catalonia
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The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Fantastic football content straight to your inbox! From the latest transfer news, quizzes, videos, features and interviews with the biggest names in the game, plus lots more. Sign up to our FREE live football newsletter, tracking all of the biggest games available to watch on the device of your choice. Never miss a kick-off! Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Barcelona have finalised a deal for a British star. The Blaugrana have had difficulty in registering signings over the past couple of years, with the club's financial situation said to be complicated behind the scenes, but after receiving approval from FIFA, a new signing is on his way to Barcelona to complete a deal. The move marks the Catalan giants beginning to embrace talents from our fair shores, after some 30 years without a single Englishman representing the institution.
Back in the 1980s, Terry ‘El Tel’ Venables took over at Camp Nou and brought over the likes of Mark Hughes and Gary Lineker – the latter of whom is ranked at No. 45 in Four Four Two's list of the greatest Barcelona players of all time – but it would be over 30 years before the five-time European champions would bring another Brit to the club. Barça snapped up Arsenal's Hale End starlet Marcus Mc Guane in 2018, while Louie Barry and London-born Ian Poveda (now a Colombia international) have also been in the club's La Masia academy over the past decade – while last summer, Barcelona signed Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford on a year-long loan deal.
Now, Hansi Flick's side have completed a deal for Norwich City youngster Ajay Tavares, as per Sport, having received international clearance to do so. The report states that after the Canaries' authorisation, the 16-year-old has completed his medical and that FIFA have approved the move for, “one of the most promising prospects of his generation”. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Tavares holds England-Portugal dual nationality status but has competed for England's under-15, under-16 and under-18 teams, with 15 appearances and three goals – though he is yet to receive a senior debut at Carrow Road. Four Four Two understands that Tavares had been monitored by several Premier League clubs, making this transfer a real coup for Barça. In the first team alone at Camp Nou, Flick has a whopping 10 players eligible to be registered as academy graduates from Barcelona between the ages of 15 and 21, in the form of Alejandro Balde, Pau Cubarsi, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Gerard Martin, Dani Olmo, Marc Bernal and Eric Garcia.
Several of these players, however, have played for other youth teams prior to their move to La Masia, with Fermin and Gavi both ex-Real Betis academy prospects, and a couple of players – Olmo and Garcia – having left La Masia as youth players before returning as senior players. Transfermarkt ranks Barcelona first among all 2025/26 Champions League clubs in terms of total player value – €575 million – for academy players in the first team. Only Athletic Club (21), Kairat Almaty (15) and Ajax (12) have more academy graduates in their senior squad. Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at Four Four Two. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
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