The Centre-Back Who Plays Like He's Been Doing It For 20 Years

At 17, he broke Sergio Ramos' record as Spain's youngest ever defender. At 17, he was man of the match on his Champions League debut against Victor Osimhen. At 19, FIFA gave him the Young Player Award at the World Cup.

Pau Cubarsí grew up in a tiny Catalan village barely anyone outside Spain has heard of. He barely spoke Spanish. He just played football. And somehow, before turning 20, he won two La Liga titles, two Supercopas, a Copa del Rey, an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup.

Barcelona put a €500 million release clause on a teenager. This is the full story of why.