Ajay Tavares: From Norfolk to Barcelona – ‘England’s one to watch’

Despite his natural talent, the route to the Catalonian giants has not been straightforward for Tavares, according to his father Helio, with years of dedication to “training, late nights, early mornings and the family spending money”.

“At the age of nine he came for a trial at Norwich, he was so shy, he didn’t show his football,” he said.

Tavares failed to break into the Canaries academy on that occasion but would try again three years later and successfully made it into Norwich’s under-12s in 2022.

“I think that was the point where he started flying,” said Helio. “At 13, this is when I would say the explosion came.”

After progressing to the Norwich under-18 and under-21 sides, as well as the England youth teams, Tavares also made a first team appearance for the Canaries in a pre-season friendly against Dutch Eridivisie outfit Volendam last summer.

He is now part of the Barca Juvenil A under-19 squad, primarily playing as a winger.

“There are no words to explain it,” said Helio. “You talk about Barcelona coming to Norwich to pick up a boy from Norwich, it’s beyond unbelievable.”