Barcelona youth director under pressure as La Masia struggles to keep up

Barcelona may be considering a major change in their famed La Masia academy. According to Relevo, Director of the Academy Alexanco is coming under pressure for his position and could exit this summer.

The club feel he is not showing enough initiative in his role. Frequently Barcelona appear to be missing out on the best players at their age group, who are instead heading to the likes of Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

Equally in terms of retaining talent, Barcelona are losing out. Ilias Akhomach and Victor Barbera are two of the brightest players at Barca Atletic, but both look set to leave on a free this summer. Negotiations have broken down with the former, who has offers from Leeds United and Milan, while Barbera will head to Club Brugge in the summer.

The under-19 side (Juvenil A) also went out of the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday too, being beaten in the Round of 16 by AZ Alkmaar (3-0). They have also gone out of the Copa del Rey at the same stage.

Alexanco could be let go in the summer, as Barcelona look to preserve their production line ahead of austere years at Camp Nou. The former Barcelona player occupied the same role under Joan Laporta during his first presidency, and has done so for two years at Valencia between 2015 and 2017 too. However it appears there is an overriding feeling that he is not at the top of his game any more.