Most valuable defender in the world
©IMAGO
At 18, Pau Cubarsí is a regular at FC Barcelona and, with a market value of 80 million euros, the most valuable central defender in the world. In an interview with “The Athletic”, the Spaniard gives insights into the beginnings of his young career.
At the age of eight he moved to Girona FC’s youth team, where he was trained until 2018 before his parents had anything to say to him. “They were cautious and reserved, but finally it came out: Barcelona had been watching me and wanted me to sign,” the then 11-year-old learned in the car during the family vacation.
“I just started screaming, screaming with pure joy, my legs kicking in the air while I was still strapped in. When we got home, I jumped out of the seat and started running. I wasn’t expecting the call from Barça. For me, playing at Girona was already huge. There are Espanyol, Girona and other good clubs in Catalonia, but if you’re a Barça fan “There is no bigger dream.”
Cubarsí: “Barça has its own taxi network in Catalonia”
Four years followed in the Barça youth team and the club provided transport from his hometown to the training ground. “In my first year at Barça, the club sent me a taxi to take me to and from training three times a week. Barça has its own taxi network in Catalonia. I finished school at 4:30 p.m., went to my grandparents’ house and the taxi picked me up there, also picking up other children. On the way home I had dinner in the car and got home around 10:30 p.m. Then, after four years, I moved in La Masia.”
At Barça’s famous football academy he met Lamine Yamal, against whom he had already played in several games. Mainly children who don’t live in Catalonia live there. Cubarsí was met. “This happened because I was promoted to the U19, even though I was only 15. In this category they are already professionals and train every morning, so it was difficult to organize otherwise. Barça offered me to live there to combine training in the morning with school in the afternoon – that was a better solution.” The eight-time international player lived in La Masia until this summer before he moved in with his sister.
He made his debut on January 18, 2024 – since then, the defensive talent has been one of the biggest risers in the football world. The fact that he started playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world at the age of 16 also has to do with Cubarsí’s work ethic: “I stayed after training to improve on what my coaches told me. I knew that these details would allow me to make it to top football. Small details that may be invisible to many, but at the highest level they decide whether you stay or not. I have to thank everyone for that thank my trainers.”
It received its first market value in October 2023 and increased this from 1.5 million to 80 million euros within two years. Cubarsí remembers the first time in the Barça dressing room well: “I felt this embarrassment of sitting there, being the new one, thinking that maybe they would look at you and wonder who you were. I stayed in the corner for a bit, so as not to disturb anyone too much, and counted down the time until you can finally get on the pitch to prepare. Now that so many of us have come up from the youth academy, many of us Because we are young, it brings us together and helps us be one big family.”
Coach Hansi Flick’s squad currently includes nine players who were trained in FC Barcelona’s youth ranks. The market value of these players is 565 million euros – a good half of the squad’s value of 1.11 billion euros. Asked which talents from La Masia could make the breakthrough next, Cubarsí said: “Especially those my age who are now at Barça Atlètic and Juvenil A. Quim Junyent, Juan Hernández, Dani Ávila.”
Cubarsí names the 2026 World Cup as his goals, after he was left out of the squad of the eventual European champions shortly before the 2024 European Championship, as well as the captain’s armband at Barça. “In the youth teams, I was captain of a few teams. This year I need to improve and focus on taking more leadership to help the team. I will give it my all.” On Sunday he will start his sixth Clásico at the Bernabéu and will be looking for his fifth win in a row against Real Madrid.