FC Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara has revealed that Gai Assulin, currently without a club, was the player who impressed him the most at FC Barcelona’s La Masia Youth Academy.
“He was my age – and he was always one step ahead of me. He then made it into the second team, but missed the jump to the pros. In the end, he only played in the second and third Spanish leagues. And yet he was the most talented player I’ve ever seen in La Masia,” SOCCERSCORE.news/bundesliga/thiago-exclusive-the-most-talented-la-masia-player-ive-ever-seen/">Thiago said in an exclusive interview with Goal and SOCCERSCORE during the German record holder’s US tour of Los Angeles.
Thiago joined FC Barcelona in 2005 at the age of 14. There he met the Israeli Assulin, who was also born in 1991.
Assulin only played once for the Catalan professional team, and in October 2009 he was in the starting line-up for a 2-0 victory in the Cultural Leonea Cup match. After 56 minutes he was replaced by Eric Abidal.
Assulin left Barca in the summer of 2010 and then moved to England, where he played for Manchester City’s second team and Brighton & Hove Albion, among others. After his return to Spain in 2012, he played for various clubs, but was never able to assert himself.
Most recently Assulin was active for Hapoel Tel Aviv (January to August 2016), CE Sabadell (until February 2018) and Kairat Almaty. He’s been clubless since early April.
The 28-year-old Assulin scored nine goals during his career in 113 cross-club events.
You can read the complete interview with SOCCERSCORE.news/bundesliga/thiago-exclusive-the-most-talented-la-masia-player-ive-ever-seen/">Thiago Alcantara on Tuesday morning at SOCCERSCORE and Goal.
