‘Showed him to Zubimendi’ – La Liga forward hails Barcelona youngster as generational

Barcelona take on Cadiz in less than 12 hours time in the 31st round of La Liga. Given that the clash is nestled between the two legs against Paris Saint-Germain, Xavi will be pressed to rotate his squad on the night, albeit not too much.

One of the players his side will go up against, Robert Navarro, is one from the club academy. Born in Barcelona, the youngster spent five years of his youth career in La Masia before moving to Monaco in 2018.

So far this season, the 22-year-old winger has scored one goal and provided one assist for Cadiz in La Liga and has made 20 appearances in the competition.

Navarro spoke to the media earlier today, addressing the upcoming clash against Barcelona, and provided an insider’s view on the team’s young talents as a former player of the academy.

He first spoke about Lamine Yamal and how he knew for long that the youngster would mark an era with Barcelona.

“Lamine was already ‘signed’. I remember being at the Sanse when I was 17 years old and showing Martín Zubimendi a video and telling him: ‘Look at this boy’.”

“I told him: ‘I haven’t seen anyone do what that boy does in La Masia‘. He is incredible, he can mark an era’,” he added.

Navarro, however, admitted that he did not see Pau Cubarsi’s rise coming, for he did not know the player during his time at the academy.

“I didn’t know Pau and he is surprising me a lot. His passing is spectacular and in defense you think: ‘Osimhen is going to catch him’. And the guy holds on, he wins the duels. I congratulate him,” he added.

Finally, the Cadiz star spoke about Barcelona’s summer target Martin Zubimendi and remarked that he was not surprised by Xavi’s admiration of his former teammate.

“I’m not surprised that he wants him as a pivot. He has everything. I always made the joke and told him: ‘You’ve already taken something new out of your backpack.”

Source: SPORT