Clara Serrajordi wants to close a perfect year in London: "She has hit the ceiling"

BarcelonaWhen Clara Serrajordi (Llinars del Vallès, 2007) was told she was nominated for the Kopa Trophy, her reaction was spontaneous and natural. "Was it today?", said the young midfielder, surprised by the news. A response that shows what the blaugrana is like in her day-to-day life. "She is a person who experiences everything with great calm, serenity, and a cool head, with great normality", they explain from her inner circle. In one year, Serrajordi has gone from playing with the Barça reserve team to being a starter in a Champions League final against Olympique Lyonnais (4-0). In fact, the Catalan became the youngest player in the club [counting men's and women's teams] to start in a Champions League final. She did it at 18 years and 167 days old.

This is just one of the records that Serrajordi has been breaking until consolidating herself, exponentially, in the elite of football. The fans who a year ago were starting to learn her name are already wearing it with pride on their jerseys. Her similarity to Alexia Putellas –who from the very first moment welcomed her as her little sister– has been an important part of why she has gained so much prominence in such a short time. "She has made everything much easier for me and has helped me a lot to grow as a player and as a person," said the native of Llinars in an interview with Sport.

The 42 matches, two goals and seven assists of the previous season have served her to be this Monday at the "Oscars of football" gala, as people close to the footballer describe the Ballon d'Or ceremony that will take place in London. "Her first year in the elite and she is already at the most important gala of football. It is the reward for the season she lived and for the quadruple of titles," they add. Serrajordi is nominated for the Kopa Trophy –an award given to the best player under 21 years of age of the season–, in which she will have to compete with fellow blaugrana Vicky López –champion of the first and, so far, only edition–, Felicia Schröder (Real Madrid), Lily Yohannes (Olympique Lyonnais) and Veerle Buurman (Chelsea).

At just eighteen years old—she will turn nineteen in December—Serrajordi has already won a Champions League, a League title, a Queen's Cup, a Spanish Super Cup, and a Nations League. "She hit the ceiling just as she broke into football," they comment ironically in ARA. Despite the excitement of being able to make history and win the second edition of the women's Kopa Trophy, those around her emphasize that she is focused on the day-to-day. "She lives focused on her work and does not worry about outside matters, but rather on training and competing."

A mentality that has led her to the elite and to receive praise from the best players in the world. "We, at eighteen, didn't play like that. She is always learning the role she has to assume, whether she plays as a pivot or an interior midfielder. It is impressive how she can adapt every match to either of the two positions; that requires understanding the game very well, knowing how to control everything, and perceiving what the team needs at every moment. And she has it," described Patri Guijarro, current first captain, in an interview with Efe. "I see her more as an interior midfielder. She is a quite different midfielder from what we have because she has a lot of ability to go back and forth and play in broken games. Most of the midfielders we have like a slower, control-based game," noted Romeu.

The nomination for the Ballon d'Or gala is a new incentive for Serrajordi to continue improving, but always with the normality that characterizes her, as she explained a few months ago to ARA: "My friends and my family freak out a bit, but they don't convey it to me because I don't like them telling me. I want to continue my normal life. Among themselves they do talk about it more, but I have told them not to tell me. I want normality".

With more than fifty matches already in the blue and garnet shirt, the midfielder is an undisputed starter for Pere Romeu. After missing the start of the season due to playing in the U-20 World Cup and a subsequent injury to her right radius, Serrajordi has been a starter in five of the six matches in which she has been available. Furthermore, she already has one goal and two assists in this start to the campaign. "She is aware that she still has everything ahead of her. This doesn't end, whether she wins the Kopa or not," they conclude from her inner circle.