For the last two weeks, Aidan Marquez and Isaiah Kaakoush have been training with the Barça U19B and U16A teams respectively. The youngsters are from Barça Residency Academy USA (Arizona) and have been enjoying a unique opportunity to engage with the Barcelona-based players and learn more under the club's famous methodology.

For U17 centre back Kaakoush, this is the second time he has been here after also attending last season's Training Camp. Barça U16A coach Arnau Blanco got a good look at how the player from Phoenix has been able to progress in his time at the Ciutat Esportiva.

Marquez, meanwhile, is a striker who is in Barcelona for the first time, and has benefitted enormously from coach Pol Planas' tutorship and from being able to interact with such top quality players and surroundings.

About Barça Residency Academy USA

Barça Residency Arizona started in 2017 and is the club's only residential project in North America. Supervised by FC Barcelona specialists, it makes sure that the methodology is 100 per cent based on the same one used in Catalonia. Located at Casa Grande, its has eight soccer fields, a study centre associated to Arizona State University and is the only Barça Academy playing in MLS Next, the highest level youth league in the United States.

Success cases

These are not the first players from the centre to come to Barcelona for special training. The first was Julian Araujo, the first team player currently out on loan to Las Palmas. Other Arizona graduates who have gone on to play professionally are Caden Clark (Vendsyssel FF in Denmark), Matthew Hoppe (San Jose Earthquakes) and Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo).