Xavi Espart: Barcelona's Versatile Rising Star

Born in the city that breathes football, Xavi Espart is as Barcelona as the tiles on La Rambla.

He walked through La Masia’s doors at eight and grew up in the same age groups as Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí and Marc Bernal. Back then he was a midfielder, slight but sharp, already trusted to run games. By 16 he was in the UEFA Youth League with the U19s, shuttling between midfield and right-back, the coaches testing just how many roles this kid could handle.

From treble-winning kid to Flick’s radar

The real leap came when Juliano Belletti took over the youth side. Espart became a pillar of a team that swept a domestic and European treble in 2024-25, usually stationed at right-back but playing with a midfielder’s brain.

On the continental stage he did more than just fill a shirt. Against Newcastle he scored one and set up another in a 3-2 win. Against Paris Saint-Germain he hit the winner. Those nights accelerated everything. Not long after, Hansi Flick called.

The dream, though, didn’t arrive in a straight line.

Espart spent the opening weeks of the new campaign as an unused substitute, close enough to feel the heat of the first team but not yet allowed to touch it. Just when his debut seemed inevitable, his knee gave way. Three months gone, just like that.

Flick didn’t forget.

St James’ Park and a first taste of chaos

Barcelona were 1-0 down at St James’ Park in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in March when Flick finally turned to the local boy. Minute 88. Hostile ground. Tie in the balance.

He replaced captain Ronald Araujo and was thrown straight into the storm down Newcastle’s right. His first big moment came against Joe Willock: forced him all the way to the byline, timed the slide perfectly, bounced back up and fed Lamine Yamal. Moments 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 afterwards.

Five days later, Flick gave him a full La Liga start at Camp Nou in a wild 5-2 win over Sevilla. It wasn’t flawless. Sevilla pressed high, rushed him, forced a few loose touches. But he fought for everything, settled into the game and grew braver on the ball as the minutes ticked by.

Then came another pause. Just four more league appearances followed in a title-winning campaign, but the message was clear: 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."

Running Spain’s midfield in Wales

The summer turned him from promising squad option into something more serious.

Espart went to Wales with Spain’s U19s and owned the midfield. He pressed, pinched the ball, dictated rhythm. He glided past markers, then zipped passes into gaps that barely seemed to exist.

He smashed in his first goal of the tournament in a 7-0 demolition of hosts Wales, cushioning the ball with a delicate touch before thundering it home. In the semi-final against Croatia, he struck again with a 12th-minute opener, setting the tone for another dominant display.

Often he would receive the ball, lift his head and see all 11 opponents in front of him. It rarely mattered. A disguised pass through the middle, a one-two to break a line, a sudden surge straight at defenders – he kept finding ways to launch attacks.

Spain didn’t concede a single goal all tournament. Espart made the Team of the Tournament and returned to Barcelona with a medal, a reputation, and a sense that his time had arrived.

No holidays, no excuses

Officially promoted to the first team and given the number 12 shirt, he reportedly scrapped his summer holiday to keep the momentum from the Euros alive. 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."

He started the friendly against Birmingham, calm on the ball, tight in his duels. When the Championship side attacked down the flank or broke into the box, he stuck to his man, sometimes tucking into midfield as an inverted full-back, sometimes stepping up to dictate tempo. Flick didn’t need long to make his verdict public: the teenager, he said, "has made it clear to us that he is a top-level player."

Barcelona needed that kind of solution. Right-back has been a problem area, and the club’s limited resources in the summer were pointed elsewhere – Rodri, Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi. On paper, Jules Kounde and Joao Cancelo were the only natural options.

So the twist came from the opposite side.

The left-back who isn’t really a left-back

Instead of filling in on the right, Espart has started all four La Liga matches this season at left-back, pushing Alejandro Balde out of the XI.

He looked assured against Elche and delivered his first assist, threading a diagonal pass to Fermin on the edge of the box to complete a 5-0 win. Four days later against Athletic Club, he turned up the volume.

He went into tackles with conviction, stepped into midfield to start moves and occasionally burst straight through the centre in search of a spark. One superb cross found Raphinha in prime position, only for the Brazilian’s header to crash off the post and rob him of another assist in a 2-0 victory.

"Xavi Espart is incredible," Joan Garcia said afterwards, focusing on his defensive work.

Flick, too, sounded both impressed and intrigued. "I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing, even a little surprised by how he’s playing at left-back," he 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 grew again in the 5-2 win over Rayo Vallecano. Espart squeezed into the half-space, played a sharp pass into the captain’s stride and watched him run through to score the equaliser.

A full-back who thinks like a midfielder

Espart’s greatest strengths as a youth player were his reading of the game, his positioning and his composure on the ball. Those traits now shape the way he plays full-back.

He relishes physical duels, stepping tight to wingers, winning the ball and immediately looking forward. He doesn’t hug the touchline as a traditional overlapping full-back. Instead, he drifts inside, combines in tight spaces and drives 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.

Whether in midfield or at full-back, his passing carries risk and purpose. He keeps the tempo high, thinking quickly, rarely dwelling. Coaches have pushed him from midfield to right-back and now to left-back, and each time he has adapted without fuss.

"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," Cubarsí told Marca.

Flick’s Lahm comparison

The comparisons were inevitable once Flick arrived. The coach has already mentioned Philipp Lahm when talking about Espart.

"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 own journey is the template: first a left-back, then a right-back, then the metronome in midfield under Pep Guardiola. Flick, then assistant to Joachim Löw, watched that transformation up close and later used Lahm in midfield during Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph.

With Espart, the idea is clear. Close control, calm under pressure, tactical flexibility – the tools are there for a modern utility man who can solve problems across the pitch.

Managing the rise

Espart has played every minute of Barcelona’s first four La Liga games this season. Flick, wary of burnout, left him on the bench for the Champions League win over Feyenoord, a deliberate step back in a frantic schedule.

The hierarchy at left-back has shifted. Espart has moved ahead of Balde for now, yet Cancelo’s presence reminds everyone that nothing is guaranteed and Flick still has options if he wants to rotate.

"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 – wherever he lands, his intelligence and versatility give Flick something priceless: a Barcelona boy who can shape the future from almost anywhere on the pitch.