When La Masia is a source of inspiration for Real Madrid

BarcelonaThe signing of Marc Cucurella by Real Madrid has not only caused a stir due to his past as a Barcelona player, but it has also dusted off a list with so few names that it had only been increased on two occasions in the last two decades. While it is true that we find notable cases of footballers who, already in their professional stage, have worn both the Barça and the white team's jersey –Zamora, Schuster, Hagi, Lopetegui, Prosinecki, Laudrup, Figo, Luis Enrique, Alfonso Pérez, Ronaldo Nazário, Eto'o, Saviola and Marcos Alonso–, the list of players raised at La Masia who have been professionals for the whites is shorter.

Cucurella joined Barça's youth ranks in 2012, at the age of 14, coming from Espanyol's grassroots football, a trend that is indeed common in the formative years of footballers. He stayed there until he was 20, passing through the cadet, youth, and reserve teams before going out on loan in 2018 to Eibar. Ernesto Valverde never trusted him enough as a replacement for Jordi Alba, and the bet was placed on Juan Miranda, who also ended up packing his bags. The sports management at that time also did not fight hard enough for him, neither when he went on loan to Eibar in 2018 –the Basques would sign him by exercising a purchase option of two million euros– nor when he had the chance to return: Barça bought him back (for four million) but not to play him, but for economic reasons, and loaned him out and later sold him to Getafe for 12 million.

citizen club did not want to match the more than 65 million that Chelsea would eventually pay. Cucurella has been in London for four seasons, until he decided to sign for José Mourinho's new Real Madrid.

The footballer had been in Barça's orbitWhen his signing for the whites was made public on Monday,In a press conference while he was with the Spanish national team, he was asked what he would do if Barça called him to sign him. "If these situations arise, they are difficult to refuse, but I would have to consider it. In the end, it's not just about me, I also have to think about my family, decide together what is best for us," he said. When his signing for the whites was made public on Monday, his wife, Claudia Rodríguez, posted a picture on Instagram showing her as a child wearing the Madrid kit with the caption: "I explode with pride and happiness, let the adventure begin".

Marc Cucurella's predecessors

Since 2021, Real Madrid had not signed a player trained at Barça. This is Víctor Muñoz. After going through the youth academies of Sant Gabriel, Barça, Damm, and Madrid, the whites sold him to Osasuna, where he has blossomed and both the blues and the whites have been interested in his return, but it seems he will make the leap to the Premier League. Muñoz debuted in La Liga, precisely in a classic against Barça, last season.

There are only two more precedents corresponding to the 21st century: Take Kubo – who could not continue at La Masia due to changes in FIFA regulations regarding foreign minors – signed for the white team in 2019, but never made his debut. The Japanese player went on loan to Mallorca, Villarreal, and Getafe before being definitively transferred to Real Sociedad. Albert Celades, after training at Barça and spending four seasons in the first team, signed for the whites in 2000 after a good season at Celta.

The rest of the cases are much more blurred in time: Luis Milla signed for Madrid in 1990; Justo Tejada in 1961, and Josep Samitier, one of the most talked-about cases due to his link with Barça, played for the whites between 1933 and 1935. The first of all was Alfonso Albéniz, in 1902, who swapped Barcelona for Madrid to complete his studies at a time when football had much less importance.