Alba, Mathieu, Gomes, Alcacer... Cancelo? Barcelona have found a new La Masia at Valencia

The Blaugrana, who travel to Mestalla on Saturday, have often looked to Los Che to strengthen their squad in recent seasons


Barcelona set their sights on Valencia once again. The Catalans travel south to meet Cesare Prandelli's side in La Liga on Saturday in a fixture that will be made easier by the fact that many of their hosts' best players have swapped Mestalla for Camp Nou in recent times.

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It started with David Villa back in 2010. The Spain striker joined Barca for €40 million prior to the World Cup in South Africa and spent three seasons with the Blaugrana before moving to Atletico Madrid and then to the United States, where he currently captains New York City.


Two years later, Jordi Alba was the next to make the move north from the Valencian Community to Catalunya, the left-back rejoining his first club in a €12m transfer during Euro 2012.






Jeremy Mathieu followed in 2014, the French defender completing a €20m deal as part of a summer spree ahead of the transfer ban handed to Barca for irregularities in the signing of young players. And last summer, two more Valencia players arrived at Camp Nou: Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer (the midfielder cost €35m plus add-ons; the striker €30m).


It was almost three, as Barca looked set to sign goalkeeper Diego Alves to replace Claudio Bravo following the Chilean's move to Manchester City, but in the end Dutchman Jasper Cillessen was recruited from Ajax instead.


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However, there is another member of Valencia's squad who could end up at Camp Nou in the near future and that is right-back Joao Cancelo. The Portuguese is one of the names in the frame to sign for the Blaugrana as Aleix Vidal's days at the Catalan club appear numbered.









 alencia have vowed not to sell any of their players to Real Madrid due to the animosity between the two teams in recent years (a feud that goes all the way back to Predrag Mijatovic's protracted transfer to Los Blancos in 1996), but instead the Mestalla outfit have seen many of their finest footballers jump ship to join Barcelona - something that has started to frustrate the fans of a club that still considers itself one of the biggest in Spain. 


Midfielder Gomes and striker Alcacer make their returns to Mestalla on Saturday for the first time since leaving in the summer, with the striker set to receive a hostile reception from the supporters who idolised him not so long ago.


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Alcacer was born in Torrent (just seven kilometres from Valencia) and grew up as a fan of the club. He emerged through the youth system and was a player many expected to star at Mestalla for the next decade. Ironically, he could now score his first Barca goal at his former home in Saturday's Primera Division clash.





Although his decision to leave proved unpopular, it is one that he took as much because of the sorry situation at Valencia than due to a desire to play for Barcelona. And therein lies the problem: with the club in its current state, players like Paco will continue to leave, while others will need to be sold out of financial necessity.


That is bad news for Valencia, but good news for Barcelona. With Los Che still not keen to sell players to Real Madrid, the Blaugrana have been the beneficiaries over the past few years and, even though it has come at a cost, their rivals on Saturday have helped develop a number of players for the Catalans in recent times.


Villa, Alba, Mathieu, Gomes, Alcacer and perhaps Cancelo next - Barcelona have found a new La Masia at Valencia.