While waiting for more signings, young Pau Víctor has become the first reinforcement for Hansi Flick’s Barça. On July 24, the Blaugrana club reached an agreement with Girona for the transfer of the striker, who signed a contract with Barcelona until June 30, 2029. They did not want to let go of Barça Atlètic’s top scorer, who with his 20 goals, was key in Rafa Márquez’s team coming very close to promotion.
Barcelona’s sporting management has identified Pau Victor as a special talent, a forward with a great goal-scoring instinct who, in addition to playing in the centre, can also play on the wings and perform at a good level. Marc Guiu’s departure to Chelsea and the lack of confidence in Vitor Roque did the rest.
The striker is currently on tour in the United States with Barcelona’s first team. His goal will be to try to convince Hansi Flick that he has a place among the greats. Depending on how the squad is defined, he may succeed. “I trust myself, these are decisions that do not depend on me, I think I can stay. Flick asks us to be aggressive, to push, to have confidence. Barça is the best place where I can grow,” he said in the mixed zone.
To start with, he was the star of the first friendly against Manchester City. He scored one goal and was involved in the second. He was named the MVP of the match. “It’s a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life. I’ll ask my teammates to sign my ball, it’s reminded me of my family, my partner, my friends, who stayed up until the wee hours of the morning.”
A talent that woke up early
Pau Víctor is a precocious talent. Born in Sant Cugat del Vallés on 26 November 2001, he took his first steps at Junior FC. He entered the pre-benjamin category and his qualities did not go unnoticed by Javier Martínez, the coach who had him at the beginning and who is currently the technical director of the football section of this renowned club from Sant Cugat. He directed them in pre-benjamins, in the alevín and infantil categories. Then, Pau Víctor left Junior FC to go to CE Sabadell and then to Girona.
Javier Martínez remembers perfectly how he stood out among the children at school. He had something that made him different from the rest. “He arrived at Junior very young. He stood out a lot and in every season. He was very creative, a different footballer. You asked him to do something and he added something extra that you hadn’t thought of. He stood out above all in offensive play, generating collective play or making the final pass for goal. He could also get away from his rivals in individual play to end up scoring,” he explains to AS.
Although he stopped training him in the youth team, Javier Martínez had already detected that if things didn’t go wrong, Pau Víctor was a player who could make a living from football. Because of his conditions and because he had a healthy environment. “My personal opinion is that he was a player who could make it to professional football because he has an innate talent, he is a hard worker and constant and because his family has supported him without looking for immediate performance. All this combination has led to him getting where he is,” he argues.
Pau Víctor has reached the elite but has not forgotten his beginnings. He has never had a ‘no’ for Junior FC and still has some friends from that early stage. “When we have asked him to return to a camp he has done so without any problem. He has friends at Junior and, of course, from Sant Cugat. He is a very friendly lad.”
