'It's strange!' - Wojciech Szczesny reveals concern that Lamine Yamal and Barcelona youngsters won't remember his Arsenal spell

Szczesny has revealed that he doesn't expect the likes of Lamine Yamal and Barca's younger players to remember the fact that he'd even played for Arsenal. With the Catalan club's starting line-up in the league averaging just 23.8 years old, Hansi Flick has been capitalising on Barcelona's famed La Masia academy, something which the club's coaches of the past five years have had to do frequently due to financial issues at the club. Indeed, Yamal would've only been two years old when Szczesny made his Gunners debut in September 2009.

Barcelona have seen many youngsters come and go down the years, but this season seems different. Teenagers, such as centre-backs Sergi Dominguez and Pau Cubarsi and, of course, Lamine Yamal are starting regularly for the Spanish giants, alongside the likes of Marc Casado and Alejandro Balde.

And they aren't just there to make up the numbers. Ten games into the Liga season, Barca are comfortably sitting on top of the pile, with nine wins and just one defeat. Szczesny, meanwhile, who came out of retirement to join Barca, fears some of the younger players won't remember his past achievements as a goalkeeper.

Szczesny, who was brought in to help fill the void left by an injury to No.1 goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, has explained that having so many young players in the squad takes some getting used to.

He said: "I have to tell you, it's strange! Some of these players probably haven't seen me playing for Arsenal, and I feel like that wasn't a long time ago! But it is a big point of why I decided to come because I think I can give something to this team."

Speaking to reporters, Pedri added on the subject of Barca's young squad: "It's very important [to develop young talent]. The confidence that the coach gives to all the young players who are coming up, they give it back with good play. This allows them to gain confidence and have more freedom to dare to try out things."

In their last La Liga game, a 5-1 win over Sevilla, Barcelona started seven La Masia products. Bringing Gavi off the bench, they played eight in total. Talk about the youngster making an impact.

Barcelona's young prodigies face their toughest task yet in the 2024-25 campaign, as they face off against Clasico rivals Real Madrid on Saturday. For some of the youth graduates, it will be their first ever experience of Spain's premier rivalry, but going off their performances so far this season, they look more than capable of handling it.