He was one of the homegrown players promoted by Luis Enrique, with whom he was a regular in Barça's training sessions in the 2016-17 campaign and who made him debut with the first team, and now, four years later Àlex Carbonell (Cerdanyola del Vallès, 1997 ) has made his debut with Valencia's first team.
It was in Saturday's friendly against Levante and the Catalan acted as a midfielder, a position in which he has settled in recent years after having managed to do it as a forward but also as a winger.
Four years have passed since, in November 2016, Luis Enrique aligned him as a starter in the first leg of the Copa del Rey round of 32 at the Hercules field. His good work was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that fellow youth player Carles Aleñà was the scorer of the goal that avoided defeat (1-1).
But Luis Enrique had already lined up Carbonell in the final of the Catalunya Super Cup against Espanyol and the feelings were already very good. In fact, he was called up in some games in the League and the Champions League that season.
In spite of everything, in that summer of 2017 he left for Reus because the Blaugrana subsidiary did not have him, although Barça kept an option to recover it that he considered using two years later but finally did not use.
The double debut with Barça and Valencia has had an unexpected common denominator: the Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, who like him was a starter against Hercules and also against Levante as both are now sharing the preseason under the command of Javi Gracia in the Valencia.
“That people who have been in the First Division help you for many years makes everything easier for you and seeing how they cover you is appreciated. I've been here for a short time, but the feeling it has given me is of being a very good group, the people are very friendly and supportive of the teammate, and for young people that gives us life, “he said in the Valencia media.
Carbonell arrived at the Mestalla club last summer but did so to leave on loan to the Dutch Fortuna Sittard, in which, without being indisputable, he added minutes and experience. Now, after the void left by the transfers of Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin and by the temporary losses of Carlos Soler and Geoffrey Kondogbia, he is fighting to gain a place in the first team.
His teammates recommended that he play “to enjoy and put a lot of rhythm” and he followed their advice to the letter. “I had not competed for a long time, because the Eredivisie ended very soon due to COVID-19, and apart from the pace, which is high, I ended up dead,” he confessed.