"When do you hear of a young boy from England going to the best academy in the world?" Ajay Tavares' former youth coach Vik Khanna asks an interesting question. Only a select handful of English players have been signed by FC Barcelona's famous La Masia academy before. Even those closest to Tavares describe his rapid rise through the ranks from grassroots football in a small Norfolk market town to the prestige of Barcelona via Norwich City as "beyond unbelievable". When he got into Barcelona, I was just like, this is unbelievable.

Source: BBC March 13, 2026 15:01 UTC