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.
Barcelona have signed another Englishman, as their recruitment drive of Blighty continues
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 FourFourTwo'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 McGuane 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”.
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.
FourFourTwo 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.
