Joel Lopez followed in the footsteps of the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin when he decided to leave Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy and move to Arsenal.

The 16-year-old made the switch to Emirates Stadium earlier in the summer and Arsenal confirmed in August that he had signed a scholarship contract with the club, along with Sam Greenwood and Karl Hein. He will sign a professional deal once he turns 17 in March, 2019.

Lopez, who has now joined up with the Arsenal academy which is run by Per Mertesacker, is the latest in an every increasing number of players who have swapped the Camp Nou for north London during their teenage years.

Fabregas and Bellerin are the most high profile, but there has also been Jon Toral, who arrived from the Catalan giants at the same time as Bellerin, and Fran Merida, who completed the switch in 2005.

Whether Lopez goes on to make the grade like Fabregas and Bellerin remains to be seen, but Arsenal are confident they have landed a major talent in the teenage Spanish left-back.

Like Fabregas, Bellerin, Toral and Merida, Lopez was faced with a major decision when Arsenal came calling. For any young Spaniard, progressing through the ranks at La Masia is a badge of honour and it is not easy to decide to leave such an illustrious institution.

Joel Lopez signs his Arsenal contract.

But in recent years, more and more talented teenagers have been moving on and Lopez, like many before him, decided that he had more chance progressing at Arsenal than he did at Barcelona.

“Joel is a left back with a lot of future,” La Masia expert and Diario SPORT reporter Albert Rogé told “He loves to get forward and attack the penalty area. He combines very well with those inside him and has a good touch of the ball.

“In defence he is intense and his speed helps him to correct his position when he makes a few mistakes. He is a player that coaches always like. Very discreet on and off the pitch and always good.”

So why did he decide to swap the Camp Nou for the Emirates? “He leaves Barca because in his position he has Juan Miranda, who is two years older than him and he is the club's bet on the left side,” Rogé explained.

“They tried to keep him because they do not want any player to leave. However, they were aware that they had opted for Miranda so it was difficult to retain Joel for sporting reasons.”

Despite Barcelona potentially earmarking Miranda as a future left-back for the senior team, the club did what they could to keep Lopez out of Arsenal’s clutches this summer.

Fans of the Spanish giants have grown frustrated in recent years at seeing a constant stream of young talent decide to move on having started their football education at La Masia.

Politically it’s a sensitive subject at the La Liga champions, one that the club are attempting to resolve, but while the Spanish champions are looking at increasing the contracts on offer to their youngsters when they turn professional, they still refuse to match what is on offer from the Premier League.

Hector Bellerin and Jon Toral both joined Arsenal from Barcelona.

And while they continue to do that, the likes of Arsenal will always be likely to move in and land some of their most promising young talents

“The things with Bellerin and Fabregas is that they left so young,” ESPN’s Barcelona correspondent Samuel Marsden told “I don't know the exact details of those cases but Barca can't be held to ransom by all these 16-year-olds.

“Every 16-year-old is at Barca because they're good, but it's not easy to know which ones will definitely make it. Would Bellerin or Cesc have been the players they are if they'd stayed at Barca at a time when progression to the first team looked tough? Maybe not.”

Marsden added: “Eric Garcia, Sergio Gomez, Jordi Mboula, Joel Lopez, Roberto Navarro are all examples of players leaving in last two seasons. Are they good? Yes. How good will they be? We don't really know.

“Barca tried to keep them but didn't break the budgets they have in place. A lot of it is to do with agents at that age now.”

Since arriving at Arsenal, Lopez has had to wait patiently to get his chance to impress at his new club.

A delay over receiving his international clearance has limited what he has been able to do at Hale End and at London Colney and he has yet to appear in a match for the Gunners at any level.

But understands that Arsenal have now received all the necessary paperwork and Lopez has been able to start work with his new teammates as he begins the journey of attempting to become the latest Spanish teenager to make his mark in north London having taking the bold decision to wave goodbye to Barcelona.


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