Five young players that are surely going to shine for Barcelona

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BARCELONA, SPAIN – OCTOBER 27: Hiroki Abe of FC Barcelona B looks on during the Liga Segunda Division B at Estadi Johan Cruyff on October 27, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /

2. Hiroki Abe

Age: 20

Position: Winger

The Japanese winger is one of the most promising talents in Asia. After the Catalans failed to secure the services of Takefusa Kubo who signed for arch rivals Real Madrid instead, Barca made quick steps to secure the services of Abe this summer.

The Japanese winger has been one of the standout performers in the Japanese J-League for the past couple of seasons. Playing for Kashima Antlers, Abe has established himself as a regular for the side at a very early age making his debut at just 17. He was named best young player in the Japanese league for 2018.

Since then Abe has played an astonishing 79 games for Kashima Antlers and scored 10 goals and gave out 7 assists in the process. Abe has proved himself to be an excellent dribbler and creative outlet. His long darting runs makes him a formidable prospect and the J-League defenders found it impossible to get the ball off the young playmaker.

The Barcelona team president has already praised Abe as having ‘the knowledge to be a very important player’ for Barca showing he is valued highly at Barcelona.

Abe was rewarded for his fine form in the J-league by a call up to the Japanese national side earlier this year where he made his debut in an international friendly game against Chile this summer. So far he has three caps for the senior national team.

Abe has settled in well at Barcelona B and has become a regular for the Catalan’s youth side, it is only a matter of time until he makes his debut for the first team.

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