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Barcelona announced on Friday, March 25 that 16-year-old United States youth international Adrian Simon Gil has signed a three-year deal at the Camp Nou.
❗️𝗨́𝗟𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗔 𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗔
✍️ El jugador Adrian Simon Gill ha signat, en presència del directiu @SolerFerre i el director del Futbol Formatiu José Ramón Alexanco, la seva continuïtat al Club durant l’etapa juvenil
#FCBMasia 💙❤️
Gil has been at Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy since arriving in 2018 at the age of 13. He currently plays for the team’s Under-16 team but will be promoted to the club’s Under-19 side next season.
The American youngster took to social media afterwards to reveal his pride after signing on at the Camp Nou.
The youngster is one of the most highly-rated players in Barcelona’s academy and will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots such as Sergino Dest and Konrad de la Fuente who have both played in the first team for Barca.
Gil is not only making waves at Barcelona but has also gained international recognition. The central midfielder was called up to the United States Under-17 squad for matches against Argentina and Uruguay earlier in March.
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What Type of Player is Gil?
The Barcelona teenager is a central midfielder who wears the famous No. 10 shirt. Gil has spoken to Filippo Silva at Tactical Manager TV about the position he plays for the Catalan giants.
“At Barca we play with a 6, 8 and a 10, where the 8 and the 10 are pretty similar but depending on the player they can be played differently,” he explained. “So, the 8 is usually on the right, the 10 is usually on the left and that’s how it works. I usually play on the left side, I wear the 10, my job is more attacking. I stay up and attack the backline, kind of like a playmaker, you can say.”
There have been many famous players to wear the No. 10 shirt at Barcelona, including of course Lionel Messi, and Gil also admitted he had met the Argentine before he left the club last summer.
“Yes it was pretty cool,” he said. “Messi’s kids would train with the 4-5 year olds before our training. So him, Busquets, Rakitic, they would all just be standing there right before our session.”
Gavi Shows Barca Youngsters the Way
Gil also spoke about how he sees his chances of being able to progress through the ranks and eventually play for the first team at Barcelona. The youngster used Gavi as an example of there being a clear pathway from La Masia and into the first team.
“So far it’s just, pretty much the same path for every player. You’re with the U19s and then it’s just depending on how well you do,” he said. “Look at Gavi, this year he was on the U19s at the beginning and now he’s with the first team. It’s really just you are on the U19s, and then depending on how you play you can go to Barca B or the first team, just depending on your work ethic and how well you do.”
Gavi has become the latest academy product to make the breakthrough into the first team in 2021-22. The 17-year-old midfielder has quickly become a key player under Xavi, making 33 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
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