Xavi Espart
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Xavi Espart Font[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 21 May 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Barcelona, Spain[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Positions | |||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Vilassar de Mar | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2024 | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2026 | Barcelona B | 20 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2026– | Barcelona | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Spain U17 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Spain U18 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2026– | Spain U19 | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:39, 31 August 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 August 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Xavi Espart Font (born 21 May 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back, left-back or defensive midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona.
Early life
[edit]Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Espart joined the youth academy of Barcelona at a young age in summer 2015 (age group u10) and progressed through the various youth categories of the club's renowned academy, La Masia. In order to join La Masia, he left his former club Vilassar de Mar. During his youth career, he developed a reputation for his tactical awareness, technical ability and positional versatility, often being deployed both in defensive (right-back) and midfield roles.[2] Nowadays, he usually plays as a right-back successfully transitioning from his former midfield position; however, he has emphasized that he feels comfortable in both positions.[3][4]
Club career
[edit]Espart made his debut for Barcelona Atlètic on 31 August 2024, a 2–1 away loss to Andorra in the Primera Federación.[5] During the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons, he became a regular member of the Barcelona Atlètic squad, contributing both defensively and in the team's build-up play,[2] and signed a contract until 2028 on 11 August 2025.[2]
On 11 March 2026, Espart made his Champions League debut for the senior team in a 1–1 away draw against Newcastle United in the knockout stage.[6] He made his La Liga debut four days later, starting in a 5–2 win against Sevilla and playing the full match.[7][8]
On 27 August 2026, Espart was definitely promoted to the main squad of Barça, being assigned the number 12 jersey.[9]
International career
[edit]Espart has represented Spain at youth international level.[1] He first appeared for the Spain U17 between 2023 and 2024 before progressing to the Spain U18 in 2024.[10]
In July 2026, Espart was included in Paco Gallardo´s Spain U19 squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Wales.[11] Reverted to his developmental central midfield role for the tournament, he featured as a regular starter as Spain completed an undefeated run without conceding a single goal. He scored a goal in the opening group stage victory against host nation Wales and in the semi-final against Croatia and recorded three assists across the competition. In the final on 11 July, 2026, Espart played when Spain defeated Germany 2-0 to claim their tenth U19 European title.[12][13][14] Following the tournament, UEFA´s Technical Observers selected him for the 2026 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament for his role in dictating play between defense and attack. [15][16]
Style of play
[edit]Espart is known for his versatility, being capable of operating both as a right-back and as a defensive midfielder. As a defender, he is comfortable advancing into attacking areas and supporting possession-based play, while defensively, he is noted for his positioning and ability to read the game, with manager Hansi Flick comparing him to Philipp Lahm.[17][3]
He is also capable of playing as an inverted full-back, moving into central midfield areas during possession to help control the tempo of play and assist in ball progression. His strengths include passing accuracy, tactical discipline and composure on the ball, attributes often associated with players developed in Barcelona's academy system.[3][18][11]
Career statistics
[edit]- As of match played 31 August 2026[19]
| Club | Season | League | Copa del Rey | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barcelona B | 2024–25 | Primera Federación | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | Segunda Federación | 13 | 1 | — | — | — | 13 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 20 | 1 | — | — | — | 20 | 1 | |||||
| Barcelona | 2025–26 | La Liga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2026–27 | La Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | ||
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
Honours
[edit]Barcelona
Barcelona U19
Spain U19
Individual
- UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2026[23]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Xavi Espart at WorldFootball.net
- 1 2 3 "Xavi Espart, blaugrana until 2028". www.fcbarcelona.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Herrero, Anaïs Martí (2 August 2026). "Álvaro Cortés y Xavi Espart lanzan su candidatura a Flick: "Queremos quedarnos"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 August 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Quién es Xavi Espart: edad, trayectoria y futuro de la nueva promesa del Barça". ElNacional.cat (in Spanish). 11 March 2026. Archived from the original on 19 April 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Andorra 2-1 Barça Atlètic: Frustrated reaction". FC Barcelona. 31 August 2024. Archived from the original on 12 February 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
- ↑ "Xavi Espart makes first team debut against Newcastle". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Sevilla: Five-Star Performance Includes Hat-Trick". SI. 15 March 2026. Archived from the original on 15 March 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "La Liga (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Xavi Espart first team squad member with the number '12' jersey". FC Barcelona. 27 August 2026. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
- ↑ "Convocatoria de David Tenorio para el encuentro ante Italia | www.rfef.es". rfef.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 6 September 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- 1 2 Kannan, Pranav (28 June 2026). "Versatile Barcelona starlet set to lead the midfield for Spain U19 at the Euros". Barca Universal. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Avymex | Digital Agency". www.avymex.com. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Xavi Espart y Andrés Cuenca, campeones de Europa sub-19". www.fcbarcelona.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Un campeón para Flick". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 12 July 2026. Archived from the original on 29 July 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ UEFA.com. "The official website for European football". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ Estévez, Sergi Pérez (13 July 2026). "Xavi Espart, en el Once Ideal del Europeo Sub-19 tras conquistar Europa con España". Diario Sport (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ SER, Cadena (11 March 2026). "Xavi Espart, el nuevo Lahm de Flick: "¿Se puso nervioso? Están acostumbrados a esto desde que son benjamines"". Cadena SER (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 March 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ "Xavi Espart se hace fuerte en el lateral: otro paso hacia adelante". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 August 2026. Archived from the original on 2 August 2026. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
- ↑ Xavi Espart at Soccerway
- ↑ "Barcelona Clinch 29th La Liga Title in Dominant El Clasico". SI. 10 May 2026. Archived from the original on 1 July 2026. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
- ↑ "Record third Youth League title". FC Barcelona. 28 April 2025. Archived from the original on 27 August 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Under-19 EURO final highlights & report: Spain overcome Germany to seal tenth title". uefa.com. 11 July 2026. Archived from the original on 20 August 2026. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
- ↑ "2026 Under-19 EURO Team of the Tournament". uefa.com. 13 July 2026. Archived from the original on 15 July 2026. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
