Top 5 Barcelona B players ready for first-team football in 2021

Barcelona are a team that were always heavily invested in their youth development. The club understands that instead of buying players for millions of euros, they can just produce world-class players in their world-renowned youth academy, La Masia. It is no secret that some of the world’s best players have graduated from the academy and in fact, the best player in the world, Lionel Messi, was also a product of the famed academy.

Recent graduates from the academy who made it to the B team and finally into the first team, include the likes of Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, and Ilaix Moriba. With the club going through a heavy financial crisis, they might once again look into the graduates who made it to the B team and are ready for some first-team action.

Here are Barcelona B’s top five players who are ready to play for the first team next season:

#1 Inaki Pena (Position: Goalkeeper | Joined Barcelona in 2012)

Barcelona are in need of a new goalkeeper after their second-choice goalkeeper, Neto, expressed his desire to leave the club. Neto is reaching the end of his playing career and he would like to spend the last few years on the pitch rather than playing second fiddle to Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Thus there is a need for a second-choice goalkeeper next season. Instead of spending money and going for a new keeper, the Catalans can just look to their B side’s keeper, Inaki Pena.

The 22-year-old has already broken into the first-team squad but has not been deployed as of yet. He has played only nine games for the second squad this season and has kept five clean sheets. He could go on to replace Ter Stegen completely once the German starts degrading with age; however, that could be a while and till then he will have to play second fiddle to the first choice keeper. Ronald Koeman could start building up the player next season by giving him cup games but we have to wait and see what the president has planned for the transfer window.