There are some clubs that are able to churn out young players and bed academy talent into the first-team squad more seamlessly than others. At the very top level, there is no club better at that than Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal is the latest graduate of La Masia to take the world by storm, but there are plenty of other examples, past and present, that demonstrate Barca’s ludicrous ability to find talent within the confides of their own walls. During a period of their history where money is tight and they are consistently up against it to even register new signings, promoting youth has proven a handy workaround on their way back to ruling Spain.
Culers will, then, be looking forward to the return of 6’3 midfielder Marc Bernal this season after what was meant to be a breakout 2024-25 campaign was cut short by an untimely ACL injury. With the 18-year-old approaching full fitness again, excitement is brewing in Catalunya about his prospects in Hansi Flick’s side.
So, who is Bernal and why exactly is there so much hype around him? Is he really the next success story out of La Masia? BALLGM has everything you need to know on the midfield prodigy…
There are some clubs that are able to churn out young players and bed academy talent into the first-team squad more seamlessly than others. At the very top level, there is no club better at that than Barcelona.
Lamine Yamal is the latest graduate of La Masia to take the world by storm, but there are plenty of other examples, past and present, that demonstrate Barca’s ludicrous ability to find talent within the confides of their own walls. During a period of their history where money is tight and they are consistently up against it to even register new signings, promoting youth has proven a handy workaround on their way back to ruling Spain.
Culers will, then, be looking forward to the return of 6’3 midfielder Marc Bernal this season after what was meant to be a breakout 2024-25 campaign was cut short by an untimely ACL injury. With the 18-year-old approaching full fitness again, excitement is brewing in Catalunya about his prospects in Hansi Flick’s side.
So, who is Bernal and why exactly is there so much hype around him? Is he really the next success story out of La Masia? BALLGM has everything you need to know on the midfield prodigy…
You’d be hard pressed to find a Barcelona product more local than Bernal, who was born and raised in the Catalan municipality of Berga, only a few miles from Camp Nou. He joined his first club, CE Berga, when he was only four years old, and by the time he was six he had joined the Barca academy at La Masia.
There are many tales in England of kids and teenagers being considered too small to succeed at a professional, adult level. In Spain, and in the case of Bernal, the opposite often rings true. Barcelona staff were mesmerised by his combination of size and technique with his left foot, according to local outlet Mundo Deportivo. When he played several age groups up in an Under-10s tournament as a guest of former club Gimnastic de Manresa, he scored a hat-trick in the final against Espanyol and was named ‘best player’ of the entire event.
Upon returning to Barca and La Masia, Bernal worked his way through the academy system and continued to impress for a decade before getting a taste of senior football.
Shortly after Bernal’s 16th birthday, he was name-checked by Barcelona club president Joan Laporta as someone that head coach Xavi should consider bringing into the first-team fold amid their search for midfield reinforcements.
“Xavi would like to strengthen the midfield,” Laporta said in July 2023, “but he knows that some options are not viable and we would be making a mistake. We would be cutting off the progression of the youth team. We have Marc Casado, Pau Prim, Gerard Hernandez or Marc Bernal. First we have to look at home.”
This could have simply been a prime example of Laporta subtly informing Xavi that he would prefer funds go towards other positions rather than another midfielder, but his commitment to La Masia has remained true all the same. Barca have again and again been able to lean on the fruits of their youth development as an alternative method to fund success. Nevertheless, Bernal, now christened as ‘the pearl of La Masia’ by local press, did not make a senior appearance under Xavi, and he would have to wait until Flick’s appointment as head coach in 2024 before making his debut for the Blaugrana. On August 17, he started Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Valencia in La Liga and was their shining light in the middle of the park.
“It is a special and unforgettable moment that you imagine and dream about since you were little,” Bernal said post-match. “It helps you on a personal level and on the field; it makes all this as easy as possible. So many years playing together with Lamine from a very young age and with Pau Cubarsi a little later makes everything very special.”
He went on to praise Flick for having the confidence to start him in a competitive game at such a young age: “I didn’t expect it and I will always remember it. My team-mates helped me and told me not to be nervous and I tried to enjoy every moment. Giving a 17-year-old boy his debut is not easy and I will always be grateful to the manager for that. I see it as something unique.”
Unfortunately for Bernal, disaster was waiting just around the corner. He followed his superb debut with similarly impressive performances in 2-1 wins over Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano, but in the dying embers versus the latter, the midfielder went down clutching his knee. Barcelona’s worst fears were realised when it was later revealed he had ruptured his ACL and suffered damage to his meniscus. August had not even rolled into September and already Bernal’s breakthrough season had come to an enforced end.
Barca went on to enjoy a special 2024-25 campaign which saw them dominate Spain, winning all of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana, but they came up agonisingly short in the Champions League, falling to Inter in extra-time of the semi-finals. Flick was hailed with making his team one of the most exciting in world football, though was criticised for throwing caution to the wind a little too much, and a strong defensive midfielder like Bernal may have brought more stability to their style.
As a teenager, it would have been easy for Bernal to spiral out of control and become self-destructive after such a fantastic start to his career was derailed, but as he told Barcelona club channels in May, he’s had to do some growing up. “I’ve learned a lot, especially how to stay strong and try not to overthink when things aren’t going well,” he said. “There were moments when I just wanted to stay home and sleep all day.”
Though he’s been unable to contribute on the pitch, Bernal has spent this time on the sidelines improving from a physical perspective. When Barcelona fans got their first glimpse of him last August, he was a rather wiry and lanky midfielder. Since returning to training, he has looked far bulkier and muscular, while other clubs have also taken notice of his talents, with Roma and Real Betis credited with a recent interest. However, Barca are clear that Bernal will stay and play some sort of role for them in 2025-26, a stance best enforced by the fact they tied him down to a new contract with a €500 million release clause weeks after he underwent knee surgery last year.
As a defensive midfielder sculpted in the idyllic vision of Barcelona, Bernal is a player who can do a bit of everything. He is efficient at not only sweeping up in front of the backline, but keeping the ball ticking. His debut at Valencia came amid the chaos of Flick introducing a frantic system, yet Bernal stood out as someone who was metronomic and took good care in possession.
The physical advantages of Bernal’s adolescence remain just as true in the adult world, more so in a competition like La Liga where smaller players are known to thrive. Even at 18, Bernal is one of the tallest players at Barcelona, and if his work in the gym has been effective, potentially one of their strongest too.
There are also extra intangibles about Bernal which mean he could be a huge hit at Camp Nou. Part of what makes Barcelona so good at blooding in academy talent is their clear philosophy on all levels, from Under-6s to the seniors, from the men’s team to the women’s. Bernal has lived and breathed what it means to play for and represent Barca his entire life. Had Roma been successful in their approach for the midfielder, he may have developed as expected at Stadio Olimpico, but Barcelona are the outlier in being a super-club who almost paradoxically believe in the importance of promoting local talent. It may be best for his career to actually be thrown in at the deep end.
The big question over Bernal now is how he comes back after such a horrible injury. Rupturing an ACL is bad enough, and if anything is common enough for us to remember examples that it can be overcome, but the extra blow to his meniscus made this problem slightly more complex. It’s why there was no chance of making a return before the end of 2024-25.
Presuming Bernal’s development has not been hampered too much by this major setback, he is still in need of getting further first-team reps. He has still only played three senior games, and though he does look a monumental prospect, we could do with seeing a bit more of him before deciding how far he can truly go. There are some major milestones to hit in the coming months and years, including a debut in the Champions League and a potential call-up for the Spain national team, but that will require Bernal to pick up where he left off 12 months ago.
A more trivial criticism of Bernal is he hasn’t shown the scoring touch of his youth team days. Even his sole 2023-24 season for Barcelona Atletic in the third tier of Spanish football saw him return only two goals in 27 games – a brace in a 3-1 win at Sestao River which saw him become the youngest scorer in the history of that level. Bernal possesses a powerful shot, but whether he will ever play close enough to the final third for this to prove a differential remains to be seen.
A Spanish defensive midfielder? Who plays for Barcelona? And came through La Masia? He must be the next Sergio Busquets, obviously.
In all seriousness, there are parallels between Bernal and Busquets which go beyond these surface-level similarities. Both are excellent readers of the game and rarely give the ball away, and if anything, Bernal is further along at this stage of his development. It wasn’t until Busquets turned 20 that he was entrusted with his senior debut, though he quickly became a mainstay in Guardiola’s setup.
Speaking to SPORT earlier this summer, Bernal named Busquets as one of his two footballing idols, with the other being ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba. If he can indeed add more goals to his game at senior level, then maybe Bernal will turn out more like the France World Cup winner.
Given his height and brutish strength, Bernal has also drawn comparisons to Rodri, who was less of a physical talent when playing in La Liga with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, instead blossoming after he joined Manchester City, by which time he had turned 23. Time is on Bernal’s side when it comes to ironing out his game compared to the legends of the past and present.
Despite his newfound fame, Bernal, a self-confessed family man, has remained true to himself. Berga’s former sports councillor has been on the record saying: “His name is appearing everywhere, and at the same time, we see him every day in Berga, and he continues to be the same Marc as always.”
Barcelona are hopeful that Bernal will be able to make his return to the pitch before the end of August, nearly one year on from the catastrophic knee injury that will hopefully prove a footnote in a long and illustrious career. Momentum is building at Barca over his comeback and a club-wide belief he could make a huge difference under Flick.
The future can wait, however. Bernal has insisted he is taking things one step at a time. “To return well and with confidence,” are his season goals. Given how close friends such as Yamal, Cubarsi and Gerard Martin have taken to life in the first team, there’s no reason to doubt he will similarly flourish when afforded an extended run again.
