Guillermo Amor opens up on La Masia’s inability to produce an elite No. 9 for Barcelona

From Lionel Messi to Xavi Hernández, from Andrés Iniesta to Sergio Busquets, we’ve seen quite a few players go from developing at La Masia to emerging as club icons at FC Barcelona. However, arguably the first-ever homegrown graduate to make his mark at Barcelona was none other than Guillermo Amor Martínez.

Born in Benidorm, Spain, Amor started playing for a number of different teams in the Alicante province before impressing in a youth tournament against clubs like Barcelona, Valencia, and Hércules. He was then invited to undergo a week-long trial at Barcelona, who signed him to their brand-new academy in January 1980, with Amor leaving his family at 12 years of age and building a new chapter in Catalunya. He would have to wait nearly nine years before making his official first-team debut under Johan Cruyff, but his patience nevertheless proved a virtue: Amor emerged as one of the finest midfielders of the 1990s, drawing praise from leading commentators like Martin Tyler and helping Barcelona put an end to Real Madrid’s domestic dynasty. Amor scored 68 goals and 12 assists in 421 appearances, helping Barcelona win their maiden UEFA Champions League title, before departing in 1998 as the most decorated player in club history.

Amor bounced around from Fiorentina, Villarreal and Livingston before retiring in 2003. However, he’s remained closely involved with Barcelona ever since, overseeing the club’s youth categories as the Head of Youth Football from 2003 to 2007, before serving as the Technical Director of Football Training between 2010 and 2014. Amor then departed for Australia and spent three years with Adelaide United FC before returning in May 2017, initially overseeing Barça B and the U19A and B sides before being named the club’s new Head of Institutional and Sports Relations for the first team, until his dismissal in July 2021. Barça Blaugranes spoke to Amor in an exclusive interview.

Good day, Guillermo. How are you doing today?

Very well. The truth is, things are good here in Barcelona, ​​where we have lived for many years. We’re doing well, taking it easy, and working a little on our own projects. We’re still involved with football, and enjoying a little bit of the good weather we have today in Barcelona.

What was it like helping Barcelona win their first-ever European Cup?

Barcelona had won some European competitions in the past. They’d won the Cup Winners’ Cup and others, but they hadn’t won the European Cup, as it was called before, which is now the Champions League. They had the chance to win it in Seville, Spain, against Steaua Bucharest and couldn’t win it either, even though it was close by and it seemed like everyone in the stadium was cheering for Barcelona; we ended up losing on penalties. We arrived at a time when, with the team we had and the way we were playing, we were winning more and more, and we felt that our moment was going to come. It came in 1992 when we reached the final at Wembley against Sampdoria. It was a magical year in many ways, for many reasons, and then I think it was our turn. We also had a good season; we finally won that coveted European Cup….it was a fantastic atmosphere with so many Barcelona fans there, and we enjoyed it immensely. We also had the chance to win two years later in Athens, where things didn’t go so well, and Milan beat us soundly – the Italians played a good match, they prepared well for that final, and they beat us. That’s what we say about football. In football, sometimes you get the chance to play once, sometimes more times, and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, even if you don’t do things the same, even if you prepare differently. But 1992 was a very, very good year, and we also had the Olympics in Barcelona,

Is it safe to say that the moment when Barcelona started to grow from the second tier to the upper echelon of European football was when they started to bet on La Masia prospects instead of blindly spending money on foreign stars?

I’m in favor of everything in moderation. You know I’m a defender of homegrown talent because I’m also a product of the youth academy. I’m one of those who thinks that at home, there are a lot of talented, good footballers, and they’re cheap because they’re already here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to go out and sign someone. I think we need to sign big names, and anything that improves what you already have here, they are always welcome, but there needs to be a level playing field. Sometimes you think, if you have the right player at home, then you just make do with what you have here, players who love the club, who work for the club. Right now, you have a number of young players in the first team, who have many good conditions to be in the first team for a long time and to achieve things. Of course, I think that when you go looking for opportunities outside, it’s true that, financially, it’s going to cost you a bit more, but if you bring in someone who really improves things, and this player is going to make a big difference and score 30 or 40 goals a year, it’s worth it. I think Barcelona, ​​as a big club, has to be prepared to do this, but that doesn’t mean that, someone who came up through the ranks and knows a bit about the work that’s done with the young players we have, wouldn’t be a good fit. The results speak for themselves, because whenever there have been many homegrown players in the squad, Barcelona has always done well. And the players who stay with the first team the longest, they’re usually the homegrown players, the ones who’ve been there their whole lives. The likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, and Puyol who have come through the youth ranks and end up staying for 7,8, 10, 12, 14 years, they’re prepared to play for the team, they have the right mentality, they love the club, andthey stay because they know what they have to do at all times, because it’s their home, it really is the club of their life.

Lastly, La Masia has produced a lot of incredible midfielders like Xavi, Iniesta, yourself, but not a great deal of center forwards. Why do you think that is?

The No.9 is a highly valued position; he’s the player who’s going to get paid the most. If you start looking at the football transfer market, almost everyone is searching for center forwards who can goals or solve problems for us. We’re always looking for those positions. It’s one of the most sought-after positions, isn’t it? If you sign one striker and he’s not working out, he’s not scoring as many goals as you’d like him to, you’re already thinking about whether to sign another one. Here in the Barcelona academy, there are very good young players in that position, but of course, getting to the reserve team, having them trust you, breaking into the first team, having the opportunity in the first team, playing game after game, and being able to score goals, that is sometimes more difficult. It’s true that it’s a position that’s becoming more difficult, but I think that happens in a lot of teams.we won a few more titles there, and it was a great moment of splendor in many ways, though not for everyone.