The Future’s Spain

16-year-old Jon Miquel Toral Harper’s recent controversial move to Arsenal from the Barcelona academy was not the first, and I’m sure won’t be the last transfer of this type. Thanks to the exploitation of a loophole in the system, Barcelona have yet again been left helpless as Toral, whose agent is oddly the brother of Pep Guardiola, has followed players like Cesc Fabregas, Fran Merida and Dani Pacheco to the Premier League where they can sign professional contracts. Barcelona were reportedly fuming about this which shows just how highly rated he was with the Catalans. Although there is no issue with the legality, there is a big doubt casted over the morality of deals such as this, which can be (and has been) debated all day long so I shall not be adding to this dispute. However, there is one thing there is no doubt over and that is that Spain have got an astonishing amount of young talent.

 The current batch of Spanish superstars may have been given legendary status in the world of football for their performances for their national team over the past few years, but if you think this generation of world class footballers is just a flash in the pan, then all you need to do is take a look at the youth on show in La Liga at the moment and you will see the future is already beginning to look quite special.

 When asked about Jack Wilshire ahead of their Champions League second leg match against Arsenal, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola cheekily claimed that he had ‘many types of player like him in the second team’. Guardiola’s comments may have been ‘tongue in cheek’ and the British media may have gone predictably overboard with their reaction to try and stir up a story out of it, but the point is possibly still valid. Players like Toral are still a long way from the senior team so it’s a bit too soon to be talking about them as ‘the next Xavi’, ‘the next Zidane’ or any other comparisons the press love to throw at us, because they usually turn out to be ‘the next David Bellion’.

 Barcelona aren’t the only team in Spain with an array of young Spanish talent in their ranks, players like David de Gea, Iker Muniain, Daniel Parejo and Jose Angel have all regularly been putting in excellent performances for their respected club’s first team. It’s also easy to forget that Spain have plenty of more established, young players in and around the national squad such as Juan Mata, Sergi Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro, all of whom are no older than 23 and have amassed 107 caps between them (admittedly Fabregas has 58 of them). Players like Bojan and Sergio Canales who are on the fringes of Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s respective first teams also look like fantastic prospects, the list just goes on. I would just like to share a little information on three of the most exciting wonderkids the Primera Liga has on show at the moment.

David de Gea – Athletico de Madrid

 David de Gea Quintana came through the ranks at Athletico Madrid and made his senior debut in a Champions League game against Porto in 2009 aged just 18. Now 20; he has since replaced Sergio Asenjo as Athletico’s No 1 goalkeeper.

 He played eight times in Athletico’s successful Europa League run last season, including the final against Fulham. De Gea has been impressive in an under-achieving Athletico side this term and he started the campaign in superb style by saving a 90^th minute Diego Milito penalty in Athletico’s 2-0 European Super Cup win over Inter.

 The 6’3’’ goalkeeper has been heavily linked with Manchester United as a long-term replacement for Edwin van der Sar and has apparently been nicknamed Van der Gea by his teammates due to his physical likeness and similar goalkeeping style of the Dutchman.

 He has represented Spain at every youth level but has yet to win a full cap. There is no real shame in that however, when you consider he has Iker Casillas Pepe Reina and Victor Valdes standing in his way.

Iker Muniain – Athletic Bilbao

 Iker Muniain Goni joined the Athletic Bilbao academy in 2005 and four years later, became the Basques’ youngest ever debutant when he appeared for the senior team as a substitute in a Europa League qualifying match against Young Boys (July 2009) at the very tender age of 16 years, 7 months and 11 days and a week later, in the return leg he became Athletic’s youngest ever scorer.

 The 18-year-old goes by the obligatory (and annoying) media comparison of ‘‘the Basque Rooney’’, perhaps because of the mix of explosive power and technical ability he possesses. Able to play on either wing or through the middle, Muniain’s ability is quite breathtaking at times, particularly when running with the ball at his feet and his turn of pace can be electric. Far from just being an attacking threat though, the youngster is a tireless worker for the team and is more than happy to help out defensively. He stands at a height of just 5’6’’, but his stocky physique gives him a strength that defenders find difficult to deal with.

 Although he made his debut at the beginning of the 2009-10 season and featured regularly though-out that campaign, 2010-11 has proved to be a real breakthrough season for the prodigy, starting more and more games and earning rave reviews for his performances.

 Muniain has a contract at Athletic which would theoretically keep him in Bilbao until June 2015, but the Basques face a colossal fight to keep hold of him with big clubs in England and Spain reportedly showing an interest.

Sergio Canales – Real Madrid

  20-year-old Sergio Canales Madrazo made a dramatic and sudden impact on La Liga during the 2009-10 season whilst playing for Racing Santander. He had made only a few substitute appearances in the previous campaign but was given his first start at Espanyol in December 2009 and that was where it all started for the young attacking midfielder, scoring twice after providing the assist for his team’s opening goal. If people hadn’t noticed him after that then they undoubtedly would a month later when, in his third start for the Canterbrians, he scored another two, superb goals and received the man of the match award against Sevilla in a 2-1 victory for his club.

 After a handful of confident performances in the Racing senior team, the big clubs began to take notice with Real Madrid acting quickly to win the race for his signature. It was just two months after Canales’ first start for Racing when Real Madrid announced the signing of the promising playmaker, with him staying at Racing for the remainder of the season, scoring 6 goals and providing 4 assists in the league to help them avoid relegation.

 His first season at Madrid hasn’t gone to plan for Canales, with him behind Ozil and Kaka in the pecking order, he has been mainly restricted to brief substitute appearances which has halted his progress somewhat, with some people suggesting he made his big move to the Santiago Bernabeu too soon.

 He has proved himself to be an extremely exciting prospect still and his talents include a fantastic amount of technical ability, great vision, flair, precision, an ability to create chances and an eye for goal. Canales has stated he is not happy sitting on Madrid’s bench and whether he decides to remain patient at the Bernabeu or move on at the end of the season, where there is reported interest from Liverpool and a number of other clubs, he has the world at his feet and after impressing for Spain at youth level, it surely won’t be long until we see him playing in the national team at a senior level.

-James