Former Barcelona Academy Star Could Become Bigger Than Cristiano Ronaldo

A former Barcelona Academy star could possibly be bigger than Cristiano Ronaldo in Juventus.

There are a lot of transfer talks going on in both LaLiga and Serie A. But most of the biggest names in the transfer window come with a huge price tag. This has led some of the clubs turn their heads to some of the rising stars who aren’t in their prime form yet but are already impressive on the pitch.

In a recent list of notable rising stars compiled by Squawka, the name that stood out from the rest was Juventus U23 star Pablo Moreno. The 17-year-old forward has been viewed as a possible successor of Ronaldo. Ironically, Moreno was a former La Masia player but instead of emerging as Barcelona’s future star, he made his name in the club where Lionel Messi’s rival plays for.

Marca reported that Moreno has scored over a staggering 200 goals during his time with Barcelona’s youth team after being picked up in his hometown of Granada. Moreno’s youth coach Javier Mahia witnessed how the youngster’s move from Barca to Juve made an incredible impact in the said town. According to Mahia, as early as now, Moreno has already hinted at the possibility of becoming a bigger star than Ronaldo. In fact, Mahia said he had seen more Moreno Juventus jerseys than Ronaldo’s being worn and sold by people in the streets of Granada.

“In Granada, there are more and more Juventus jerseys appearing on the streets but it isn’t because of Cristiano Ronaldo,” Mahia said.

Moreno on the other hand, has been open about learning from Ronaldo at this point. He has posted photos of him training with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on his social media account.

Meanwhile, Barcelona is reportedly planning to start utilizing some fresh legs from La Masia a bit more. Alena and Riqui Puig have been mentioned and Barcelona is said to be all-in with the idea of the latter moving straight into the first team. The 20-year-old made his La Liga debut on April 13 last year, but he made his senior team debut with first team against Cultural Leonesa in a 4–1 home victory in the Copa Del Rey in December 2018

Alena on the other hand, is currently on loan at Real Betis until the end of the campaign. Reports claimed that less playing time under former boss Ernesto Valverde forced the 22-year-old La Masia youth graduate to make the decision.