Gazza M wrote:Recruiting academy players who haven't signed their first pro contract vs tapping up players who are actually under contract dating back to the petit/overmars days. Hmm
Yeah. I remember when Benik Afobe was the biggest thing since Michael Owen on English youth level and hadn't signed professional terms yet with us due to being 16. Barca brought him over for two weeks and let him train with Messi, lodged him in fancy hotels and showed him around town.
These things happen all the time. Barca themselves took Cesc from his hometown team when he was 12. I remember reading about how his boyhood club tried to hide him when the catalan scouts came to visit.