Barcelona 16-year-old prospect dreams of following in Lionel Messi’s footsteps

Barcelona’s fabled La Masia youth academy continues to churn out young talents one after the other, with several of them going on to make a splash at the first-team level this season.

Indeed, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, and Pau Cubarsi have become regulars under Xavi Hernandez while Marc Guiu and Hector Fort are also in the senior setup.

More players like Marc Casado and Angel Alarcon, among others, have received an opportunity with the senior squad under the current staff.

Nico Marcipar dreams of a first-team breakthrough

Another young talent, Nico Marcipar, is eager for his opportunity and dreams of breaking through into the first-team setup at Barcelona, reports SPORT.

Marcipar, 16, is a left-footed centre-back by trade, who is currently a part of Barcelona’s Cadete A side (Under-16), who are poised to celebrate the first league championship of the Barça youth team in 11-a-side football this season.

Raised in Castelldefels by an Argentine family from Santa Fe, Nico started out as a player in the Sant Cugat academy, before making the switch to La Masia.

The Catalan defender with Argentinian roots has always been attentive to the instructions of the trainers to progress day by day. In addition to his strong point – the long-range shot – Nico is improving in his defensive security.

Dream to follow in Lionel Messi’s footsteps

Nico, despite being born and brought up in Spain, has opted to represent Argentina at the international stages so far in his youth career.

And, as per the report, the youngster’s ultimate dream is to one day play for Barcelona at Camp Nou like Lionel Messi, who was the last graduate from La Masia to the first team with Argentine roots.

Even though the RFEF offered him the chance to play with Spain, Nico didn’t think twice when he had the option to listen to the AFA (Argentinean Football Association) project.

The 16-year-old is a regular for the Argentina Under-16 side and has also played a few times for their Under-17 team as well.

Nico is very grateful for the treatment he has always received from the coaches, workers and people in charge of Barça’s grassroots football. And the aim is to one day play for the club at the highest level.