This Saturday begins the League that Messi did not want to play but to which he has finally re-engaged. This League, initially, is not for him. It is predestined for a generation of young talents, legitimate heirs to the throne that will leave the Argentinean 10 sooner rather than later. It is the Fifth of COVID. Most are still U21 and some even have to be accompanied to training because they are not even old enough to get their driving license.
This exciting generation is led by Ansu Fati (17 years old), the child of the records; Vinicius (20), the Brazilian who draws smiles on gloomy afternoons of Bernabeu; João Felix (20), a global phenomenon ending the transition from promise to reality; Kang-in lee (19), voted best player in the last U-20 World Cup, Kooundé (21), the French marshal of the Sevilla defense … more Kubo (19), Rodrygo (19), Odegaard (twenty-one), Isak (twenty) and those that Luis Enrique made debut in the Selection recently, as Pau Torres (twenty-one), Unai Simon (2. 3), Oscar Rodriguez (22) and Eric Garcia (19), for whom Barça is already negotiating with Manchester City.
They also know what it's like to play already in First the sevillista Bryan gil (19), the txuri-urdin Barrenetxea (19), Fer Child (19), from Villarreal, and the Alavesista Javi lopez (18).
The mistaken belief has always circulated that clubs only bet on the quarry when they do not have enough to pull their portfolio, but this generation of extraordinary young footballers were already in First before the pandemic hit. This 'baby boom' has come from pearls to the clubs in times of austerity.
Start a League that inherits the side effects of the previous one, one of the most convulsive in history, because the tournament has only been interrupted on two occasions: by the Civil War and by the COVID-19 pandemic. Atypical because it will be the latest to start since 1981-82 (September 19), in which the greats will be absent in the first three days, in which there will be a reduction in budgets and atypical, above all, because there will be no public in the stadiums.
Zero spending. There are callsigns that confirm that the league is losing muscle. If we put it in a European context, the Premier is still the coolest of all. Only Chelsea has spent 225 million on signings, more than the 20 Spanish clubs. In Spain, the one that has been the most Barça, 103 million, but there is a trick: 60 are from the Arthur-Pjanic exchange The second is Sevilla, with 43 million, followed by Villarreal (14.5) and Osasuna (13.5). In total, until today the 20 clubs have bought a value of 222.9 million. The deadline to sign is open until October 5. In the absence of one hundred million dollar signings, the Fifth of COVID (not to be confused with the Quinta de Cobi, those who won the Olympic gold in Barcelona 92) assures us the show, with Ansu Fati, Vinicius, João Felix and his companions in mischief.