Barça's latest great treasure: the story of Sydney Schertenleib's signing

BarcelonaSydney Schertenleib joined Barça before she was even of age. Seventeen years old and largely unknown in the Barça media world, the Swiss midfielder had excelled at the U-17 European Championship held in Estonia in May 2023. The Swiss national team, where Schertenleib was just beginning to shine, achieved something unusual: reaching the semi-finals, defeating Germany along the way. However, they were thrashed 10-2 by the all-powerful France. The French team, in fact, would end up winning the final 3-2 in Spain. The Spanish national team's two goals in that match gave them another promising Blaugrana star: Vicky López.

But back to Schertenleib. The former head of scouting for Barça women's team, Dani Sánchez, saw her during the aforementioned competition, as explained by Catalunya Ràdio. The midfielder aroused interest due to her potential at sixteen, but her incorporation was by no means seen as urgent. She was, like others, a case to watch among young footballers on the continent in development. Schertenleib's strengths included her good manners on the ball, her versatility—she can play both as a midfielder and a winger—and her prodigious physique: she was already close to 1.8 meters tall. This allowed her to excel at the lower levels, but it remained to be seen how she would gain experience with older players.

In the 2023-24 season, he played for Grasshopper Zurich—although most of his development was at FC Zurich, after he turned his back on tennis—and made sixteen appearances in the Swiss first division, scoring three goals. Barça followed him, and former women's youth team boss Dani Sánchez—currently working with Markel Zubizarreta at the Kynisca Sports group—wasted no time in recommending his signing to sporting director Marc Vivés. He was initially expected to be a signing for the Blaugrana reserve team, where he started the season, but Schertenleib, who provided two assists on Sunday in Barça's 2-0 win over Tenerife, has been part of the first team for some time.

"We've already seen Sydney's ability. She's a very complete player, has very good control and is adept at passing. At the same time, she outruns opponents, she's very good at driving in the box... She's improving every day, she's very established in the team and we hope she can continue to get minutes," said coach Pere Romeu after the match on home soil. Despite her youth, she has participated in eight F League matches and one Champions League match. She also knows what it's like to score in an official match. She made her debut in front of goal in the 5-1 thrashing of Madrid CFF in February.

An Instagram message to sign Sydney Schertenleib

Despite having only turned eighteen this January, Schertenleib's progress has been rapid. She made her debut for her country's senior team in February of last year, playing 45 minutes against Poland. Since then, she has been a regular in the Swiss squad, where she has also played alongside Ana Maria Crnogorcevic. The former Barça player didn't hesitate to advise her to sign for Barça and pack her bags for Barcelona. Within a matter of weeks, she was already preparing to land at La Masia, where she lives. "She's very young and quite extroverted, but she's landed on the right foot in the locker room. She's one of those players who wins over her teammates by showing what she can do on the pitch," explains ARA from Sant Joan Despí.

Schertenleib's arrival was carried out in a unique way. It's unusual for players who play in the Swiss women's league to make the jump to a reigning European champion like Barça, especially in the case of such a young player who was just taking her first steps in Switzerland's top-level competition. She herself explained in an interview with 20 minutes that the club contacted her via Instagram. Since she didn't have a representative, this is how the person in charge at Barça contacted her to express their desire to sign her. "I didn't believe it. I thought it was a joke, I had to pinch myself," explains the footballer. It was her father, after calling her and telling her "we need to talk about Barcelona," who made her see that it was all true. There was interest from other clubs, but "Barça is Barça," confesses Schertenleib.

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