Xavi Espart: From La Masia to Barcelona's Versatile Hero
Xavi Espart grew up with Barcelona on his doorstep and Camp Nou in his imagination.
The Catalan capital is his home, La Masia his footballing education. He joined the academy at eight, a slight midfielder in the same age groups as Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal. Different profiles, same ambition. From the start, coaches noticed the same thing: he could play. Anywhere.
From La Masia to treble hero
By 16, Espart was already skipping age groups, stepping into the UEFA Youth League with the U19s. One week he sat in midfield, the next he filled in at right-back. The role changed, the personality didn’t. He played with a calm that felt older than his years.
When Juliano Belletti took charge of the youth side, Espart’s versatility became a weapon. He usually lined up at right-back as the team stormed to a domestic and European treble in 2024-25. On the biggest youth stages, he didn’t just blend in.
He scored and assisted in a 3-2 win over Newcastle, then struck the winner against Paris Saint-Germain in Europe. Those nights accelerated his rise. Not long after, Hansi Flick called.
A debut born in chaos
The first taste of senior football almost came earlier. Espart started this season on the bench, an unused substitute watching, waiting. Then came the setback. A knee injury, three months gone, his debut pushed back just as it felt within reach.
Flick didn’t forget.
Barcelona were 1-0 down at St James’ Park in the Champions League last-16 first leg in March when the German turned to the teenager. Eighty-eighth minute. Away. Under pressure. Espart replaced captain Ronald Araujo and walked into a storm.
He didn’t flinch. One sequence told the story: he forced Joe Willock all the way to the byline, slid in cleanly, sprang back up and found Lamine Yamal. Moments later, Barça scored the equaliser.
"When I saw myself coming onto the pitch, I couldn't believe it. I enjoyed it so much and my emotions were running high," he told the club’s website. The voice of a kid living his dream, the actions of a player who looked like he’d been there before.
Five days later, Flick gave him a full 90 minutes in a 5-2 La Liga win over Sevilla at Camp Nou. The visitors pressed high and hard. Espart’s touch wasn’t perfect, a few passes went astray, but he fought for every ball and grew into the game. The nerves faded, the confidence on the ball returned.
He went back to the bench after that, making only four more league appearances in a title-winning campaign. The minutes were limited, the message wasn’t. Flick trusted him.
"For a young player like me, the manager's trust in me has meant everything," Espart said. "His confidence in me has allowed me to stay calm, without pressure, and play the way I know how."
Europe, Wales, and a midfield masterclass
The summer showed another side of him. Back in midfield for Spain at the U19 European Championship in Wales, Espart was no longer a utility option. He was the heartbeat.
He glided past markers, hunted the ball, dictated tempo. Spain didn’t concede a single goal all tournament. Espart made the Team of the Tournament and did more than just recycle possession.
In the opener, a deft touch set the ball perfectly before he lashed in his first goal in a 7-0 win over the hosts. In the semi-final against Croatia, he struck again, this time a 12th-minute opener. When he received the ball, he often saw all 11 opponents in front of him. He still found angles: a pass threaded through the middle, a one-two to break a line, or a surge straight through bodies.
By the time he flew back to Barcelona, he wasn’t just returning from a successful summer. He was coming back ready to claim a place.
Number 12, no holiday, no fear
The club officially promoted him to the first team and handed him the number 12 shirt. He reportedly scrapped his summer holiday to keep the rhythm from the Euros. No beach, no break. Just training.
It paid off. Flick leaned on him at right-back throughout pre-season.
"I feel Flick's confidence and I want to stay in the first team; you have to take advantage of the opportunities," Espart said. "Since coming back from the European Championship, I've tried to give 100 per cent here and show that I belong here and what I'm capable of."
He started the friendly against Birmingham and looked like he’d been there for years: calm on the ball, tight to his man, solid in duels. When he tucked inside as an inverted full-back or stepped into midfield to dictate the tempo, it felt natural. Flick noticed.
Afterwards, the coach said the teenager "has made it clear to us that he is a top-level player."
Solving a problem from the wrong side
Right-back has been a headache for Barcelona. The summer money went on Rodri, Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi, leaving Jules Kounde and Joao Cancelo as the obvious candidates on that flank.
So, naturally, Espart’s breakthrough has come… on the left.
He has started and completed all four La Liga games this season as a left-back, pushing Alejandro Balde out of the XI. Out of position on paper, not in performance.
Against Elche, he looked assured and grabbed his first assist, clipping a diagonal pass to Fermin on the edge of the box to finish off a 5-0 win.
Four days later, he turned up the aggression against Athletic Club. He dived into duels, drove through the middle, and helped build attacks. One superb cross picked out Raphinha in the area, only for the Brazilian’s header to smack the post. The assist escaped him, the impression didn’t.
"Xavi Espart is incredible," Joan Garcia said after the 2-0 victory.
Flick echoed the praise. "I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing, even a little surprised by how he’s playing at left-back," the coach admitted. "He’s always focused. He’s a player with great quality and, in one-on-one situations in defence, he’s top-class. I’m very happy with him. Like all players, he has room for improvement."
The partnership with Raphinha blossomed again in the 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano. Espart slipped into the half-space, exchanged a quick pass with the captain, and watched him burst through to score the equaliser. It was the kind of movement that came straight from his days as a midfielder.
A different kind of full-back
Those years in the middle of the pitch shaped him. His reading of the game, his positioning, his composure under pressure — all of it translates now, whether he lines up at right-back or left-back.
He relishes physical duels, gets tight to wingers, and looks to win the ball cleanly before playing forward quickly. He doesn’t live on the touchline, flying past his winger like a traditional overlapping full-back. Instead, he prefers to combine inside, drift into the half-spaces, or carry the ball towards the box before releasing a teammate.
"I can be a different kind of full-back, one who can link up with teammates centrally instead of being a wing-back," he explained.
In midfield or at full-back, his passing has bite. He keeps the tempo high with sharp decisions and rarely lingers on the ball. His adaptability has been striking: midfielder to right-back, then suddenly first-choice left-back at the start of the season.
"You've all seen it: he's spectacular with the ball, he can play at full-back and in midfield... and he always does it perfectly," Cubarsi told Marca.
The Lahm comparison and Flick’s plan
The style, the movement, the intelligence — it has drawn a big comparison. Philipp Lahm.
"When I see Xavi play, I really like his confidence on the ball," Flick said in the summer. "He reminds me of Philipp Lahm, as he can play as a No. 6 or a 2. I like to see him with and without the ball."
Lahm’s path is well known. He started at left-back, shone on the right, then under Pep Guardiola moved into midfield. Joachim Low, with Flick as his assistant, followed that blueprint at the 2014 World Cup. The result was a trophy and a tactical reference point for a generation.
Espart is at the beginning of his own version. With close control, the ability to dictate play and a rare positional flexibility, he looks tailor-made to become Flick’s utility man. Early signs say the coach intends exactly that.
So far this season, Espart has played every minute of Barça’s first four La Liga matches. Flick, wary of overload, left him on the bench for the Champions League win over Feyenoord. It was a reminder that the staff will manage his rise, not rush it.
He has climbed ahead of Balde at left-back, but Cancelo’s presence shows there is still competition and cover. Nothing is guaranteed. Not his position. Not his minutes.
Espart understands that better than most.
"For now, I'm happy, but football is a day-by-day thing, and I'll keep giving 100% to stay here," he said last month. "It's very difficult to make it here, but what's really tough is staying here because of the high standards set by these players.
"At the end of the day, this is Barca, the best team in the world, and the demands are there every single day.
"You can never let your guard down."
Left-back, right-back, midfield — the role may change, the responsibility won’t. For Flick, Espart is already more than a squad player. He’s a solution. The only real question now is not whether he belongs, but where this Barcelona boy finally makes the pitch his own.
