Marc
Guiu needed 33 seconds to announce himself to the football world. That
moment came in October when he was introduced for his Barcelona debut late
in the game against Athletic Bilbao and promptly scored the winning goal.
He was 17 years old at the time, plucked from La Masia, the club's famed
academy. Guiu was asked to step up because of an injury crisis that had
robbed head coach Xavi of a host of attacking options including the great
Robert Lewandowski.
The response was spectacular, more than his watching parents could
comprehend, more than Guiu himself had dreamed of, judging by his reaction.
He described it as "unimaginable" but caveated that by saying that he had
worked for this all his life.
There is truth to those words. Albert Capellas, Barcelona's former assistant
director of youth football, explains.
"Now, everybody is talking about Marc Guiu," Capellas tells Sky Sports. "But
he arrived at the club 10 years ago when he was seven years old. That means
that the club has had to wait 10 years before he could play for the first
team. It is a long time."
In some respects, Guiu was an overnight success, entering the public
consciousness in an instant. He had not been tipped for the top with quite
such certainty as the younger Lamine Yamal, for example. But he overcame
every test Barcelona had thrown at him.
"Every year for a player at Barcelona, it is an exam," says Capellas.
"You have to pass this evaluation every year for 10 years. That is one of
the good things about Barcelona. They have lived with this pressure all of
their lives. I can promise you that a player who has spent 10 years at
Barcelona, they are a good player, for sure."
And yet, for Guiu, there was the complication of multiple growth spurts. At
a very young age, this impacted his development. "He could not play because
he had problems growing. He had pain in his knees and there was a long
period when he was carried."
Unable to show his true quality, he was not a regular for his Barcelona
age-group side from the age of 13 to 15. "He missed a lot of games. He could
not train." It took real resilience from the player to continue and patience
from the club to stick with him.
"What happens at a lot of clubs, if you cannot train or play, maybe you have
to leave. At Barcelona, we know the level of the players, we give them time.
We are experts in development. That means we do not take these crazy
decisions on young players."
What was it that Capellas and others at Barcelona saw in this boy?
Guiu is perhaps not the typical La Masia product, the diminutive forward
reliant on close control and short passes to connect with others in the
final third. In Barcelona's academy, he was seen instead as a penalty-box
player, much more of a modern No 9.
Capellas regards him as exceptional, in his own way.
"First, you must define what you mean by exceptional. Lamine Yamal, he is a
different player. Exceptional, also. But in different skills. We should say
why a player is special because Marc Guiu is also special. Gavi is also
special. They all have different skills."
'Marc Guiu is a finisher'
What are Guiu's skills, then? What is it that not only propelled him to the
first team but allowed him to make an impact once there? "Marc Guiu is a
finisher. He is a deep runner. He is a very good header. He is fast,
powerful, a fantastic boy. Very competitive."
Capellas adds: "Marc Guiu is not a player who has unbelievable skills one
against one, who can dribble past players. He is another type of player but
he is exceptional in his position, in the work that he has to do, in his
mentality. He has the nose to score goals."
Much of that was evident immediately against Athletic. His goal, swift
though it was, came as a result of his second run off the shoulder of the
last defender. It highlighted his awareness of space, his intelligent
movement, his pace and his finishing prowess.
"There was no fear in his face," said Xavi later that evening. "I told him
he would get one chance. He got one chance and he took it." He talked of
Guiu having that spark, that something about him that leads a coach to
believe he can be the difference maker.
Guiu had only made his debut for the B team just before his senior bow, his
progress fast-tracked after a summer in which he scored four goals for Spain
in the UEFA U17 Championship in Hungary. He finished as joint-top scorer
alongside Lamine Yamal.
By December, he was showcasing that talent at Champions League level, coming
off the bench to score a stoppage-time equaliser for Barcelona against
Antwerp. This was a header from Ilkay Gundogan's free-kick, another aspect
of his attacking game.
His first La Liga assist was provided by Joao Felix, his first Champions
League assist delivered courtesy of Gundogan. There is a lesson there, one
that Capellas learned long ago during his time working with Barcelona's B
team and seeing young players progress.
"When I talk to players who have been in the academy and they have the
chance to play for the B team or the first team, their comments to me, they
say, 'Albert, it is much easier to train and play for Barca B than the
under-18s.' Of course," he exclaims.
"They are better players, more experienced, their technical skills are
better, the conditions are better, the fields are better. You are with
better players and you are a good player so it is easy. When you go to the
first team, the difference is even more."
It might sound counterintuitive, but there is a logic to it. "In the first
team, surrounded by the best players, it is easy for you as a young player.
You are surrounded. When you get the ball, the other players are always
available in open lanes for the passes," he adds.
"For example, when you get a pass, it is always a good pass. It is never a
bouncing ball. It is always to the right foot, with the right timing at the
right moment. When you are playing in the lower categories, the technical
skills and the decision-making are worse.
"The goal of Marc Guiu against Athletic Bilbao. Why did he have success?
Because he had Joao Felix next to him who could see the pass at the right
time with the right speed on the ball. That is why he had the chance because
he had the players around him.
"Of course, then he has to finish the action and he did it well."
Life after Barcelona?
Guiu has already demonstrated he can connect with Barcelona's best players.
As he prepares for a big move abroad, the challenge will be to show that he
can replicate that understanding outside the confines of Barca, the club
that has long been his world.
It brings to mind a conversation with Bojan, a former Barcelona wonderkid
who debuted at the age of 17. He had to adapt to a different world upon
embarking on a globetrotting career beyond Catalonia, one that highlighted
the difficulties this can present.
"It is the best academy in the world. I believe in that philosophy. But
let's be honest, how many players make it at Barcelona? So, the other ones,
as soon as you leave, there are only a few clubs that have the same
mentality. Elsewhere, it is completely different.
"These players aren't ready to play in teams that don't have the ball, teams
that have to fight, teams where the running stats are more important than
what you do with the ball. It is another world. These young guys are not
really prepared to play in other teams."
For Guiu, there are a number of reasons why this is unlikely to be such a
problem. The most obvious is that he is good enough to be at Barcelona or
find a club capable of playing in a similarly dominant way, where he can use
the skills that he has learned at La Masia.
Just as significantly, as explained, this is not a typical Barcelona player.
There is more to his game, qualities that are more easily transferable. Guiu
offers an aerial threat and is capable of thriving when there is space in
behind as well as when that space is tight.
After that sensational start, Guiu has had to be patient. Since turning 18
in January, there have been a couple of appearances in the Copa del Rey, a
few minutes off the bench at home to Granada in La Liga and an hour against
Mallorca in his first league start.
"We are all very proud when we see a young player have their opportunity to
play for the first team. And then, of course, they have to deserve it to
stay there. There will be further tests. Marc Guiu is ready to play one
game, three games or five games.
"To be ready to play for 15 years? There will be more tests."
It seems those tests will now come at Chelsea.
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