Xavi Espart: Barcelona's Versatile Rising Star
Xavi Espart grew up with Barcelona on his doorstep and in his bloodstream.
Born in the Catalan capital, he walked into La Masia at eight years old and never really walked back out. He came through the age groups as a midfielder, sharing dressing rooms and training pitches with Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal. Even then, coaches talked about his versatility. By 16 he was already jumping age groups, playing UEFA Youth League football with the U19s, shuttling between midfield and right-back.
The breakthrough came when Juliano Belletti took charge of the youth side. Espart became a pillar of a team that swept the board in 2024-25, lifting a domestic and European treble at youth level, usually lining up at right-back. In the UEFA Youth League he delivered in big moments: a goal and an assist in a 3-2 win over Newcastle, then the winner against Paris Saint-Germain. Not long after that, Hansi Flick picked up the phone.
From cruel setback to St James’ Park
The start of his senior story almost stopped before it began. Flick had him on the bench, on the brink of a debut, when a knee injury struck. Three months out. Momentum gone, or so it seemed.
Flick did not forget.
Barcelona were trailing 1-0 to Newcastle at St James’ Park in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in March when the German turned to the teenager. Minute 88. Away from home. Under the lights. He replaced captain Ronald Araujo and walked into a storm.
He didn’t flinch. One sequence summed it up: tracking Joe Willock all the way to the byline, sliding in cleanly, bouncing straight back up and feeding Lamine Yamal. Minutes later, Barça had their 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 debut was late, but it was loud.
Five days later, Flick threw him in from the start at Camp Nou in a wild 5-2 win over Sevilla. Ninety minutes this time. Under pressure from Sevilla’s press, his touch wasn’t perfect and a few passes went astray, but he fought for every ball and grew into the game. As the match stretched, so did his confidence.
He would only make four more league appearances in Barça’s title-winning run, yet something had been established: Flick trusted him.
"For a young player like me, the manager's trust in me has meant everything," Espart said. "I'm very grateful to him. His confidence in me has allowed me to stay calm, without pressure, and play the way I know how."
Running Spain’s midfield, then sprinting back to work
Any doubts about his ceiling vanished over the summer in Wales. Shifted back into midfield, Espart became the metronome of Spain’s U19 European Championship triumph and a fixture in the starting XI.
He nipped past opponents, hunted the ball, and then moved it with authority. He dictated games. His first goal came in brutal fashion: a delicate touch to set himself, then a thunderous strike in a 7-0 demolition of hosts Wales. In the semi-final against Croatia, he struck again, this time in the 12th minute to open the scoring.
Often he would receive the ball, glance up and see all 11 opponents in his line of sight. It rarely fazed him. He could slide passes through the middle, bounce combinations around the corner to break lines or simply drive straight through defenders. Spain did not concede a single goal all tournament, and Espart finished in the Team of the Tournament.
He came back to Barcelona with a medal, a reputation and a clear idea of what he wanted next.
Officially promoted to the first team and given the No 12 shirt, he reportedly cut short his summer holiday to keep the rhythm from the Euros. The gamble worked. Flick used him at right-back all pre-season.
"I feel Flick's confidence and I want to stay in the first team; you have to take advantage of the opportunities," he 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. For now, I'm happy, but football is a day-by-day thing, and I'll keep giving 100% to stay here."
In a friendly against Birmingham he started again. Calm on the ball, tight to his man when the Championship side attacked the flank or broke into the box, he shifted seamlessly between an inverted full-back role and a midfield organiser. Flick liked what he saw and said the teenager "has made it clear to us that he is a top-level player."
A problem position, an unexpected solution
Right-back has nagged at Barcelona for years. The club’s summer spending went elsewhere, on Rodri, Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi, leaving Jules Kounde and Joao Cancelo as the only obvious options on that side.
You would have expected Espart to slot in there. He didn’t.
Instead, Flick turned him into his starting left-back. Four La Liga games, four starts, all 90 minutes, and Alejandro Balde pushed to the bench.
He looked assured against Elche and collected his first assist, firing a diagonal ball into the path of Fermin on the edge of the box to complete a 5-0 win. Four days later, against Athletic Club, he stepped up another level. He hurled himself into duels, initiated attacks and occasionally surged through the middle searching for a crack. One superb cross found Raphinha in space in the area, only for the Brazilian’s header to smack the post and rob Espart of another assist.
"Xavi Espart is incredible," Joan Garcia said after the 2-0 victory, a nod to the teenager’s defensive work.
Flick, too, could barely hide his admiration. "I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing, even a little surprised by how he’s playing at left-back," he said. "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 connection with Raphinha resurfaced in the 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano. Espart squeezed into the half-space, exchanged a sharp pass with his captain and watched Raphinha burst through to score the equaliser.
A different kind of full-back
The qualities that defined him in midfield have not disappeared. They’ve simply been repurposed.
His reading of the game, sense of position and composure on the ball made him a natural at right-back as he came through La Masia. Those same traits now underpin his performances on the left. He relishes physical duels, steps right up into the faces of wingers, wins the ball and immediately looks forward.
He is not the classic overlapping full-back hugging the touchline. Instead, he prefers short combinations, drifting into the inside channel, or driving at 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.
Wherever he plays, his passing bites. He keeps the tempo high with quick decisions and clean execution. The positional shifts have been stark: midfielder to right-back, then, almost overnight, a left-back trusted in a title defence.
"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 comparisons were inevitable. His new role, his tidy use of the ball and his ability to step inside have drawn parallels with Philipp Lahm, the Bayern Munich and Germany great.
"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 started out at left-back, then flourished on the right before Pep Guardiola moved him into midfield. Joachim Low, with Flick as his assistant, followed that blueprint at the 2014 World Cup and was rewarded with a trophy. Flick knows exactly what that kind of player can unlock.
With Espart’s close control, his ability to dictate play and his positional range, it is clear Flick sees him as a potential all-purpose weapon. Early signs suggest he might be right.
The long road at the top
For now, Espart has banked every minute of Barça’s first four La Liga fixtures. Flick resisted the temptation to run him into the ground, though, leaving him on the bench for the Champions League win over Feyenoord. The plan is cautious but clear: stretch him, don’t snap him.
He has moved ahead of Balde at left-back, yet Cancelo’s presence and midweek outing in that role underline that nothing is guaranteed. Competition is everywhere.
"For now, I'm happy, but football is a day-by-day thing, and I'll keep giving 100% to stay here," Espart 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, or back in the heart of midfield – his future position remains an open question. What is not in doubt is that his intelligence and versatility have given Flick a rare luxury: a La Masia graduate who can solve multiple problems at once. How far that takes both player and club this season will be one of Camp Nou’s most intriguing storylines.
