Leeds have reportedly made a deal with another Spanish youngster, this time from Barcelona

Leeds United have reportedly dipped back into the Spanish youth market to land another Barcelona youth player. Rafa Mujica, who joined the storied Barcelona youth Academy La Masia back in 2016, has been plying his trade in the Segunda B division with Barcelona B this past season, the same level as Cultural Leonesa, Leeds former “partner” club in Spain.

The 20 year-old striker, who can also play on the wing, scored seven goals in 33 appearances for Barca B. The former Spain U19 international was held out of last weekend’s match with Hércules with a “knock,” giving some credence to the reporting that Leeds have already signed Mujica to a contract, as his Barcelona contract runs out this summer. Mujica came up through the youth ranks at Las Palmas before joining the Catalan giants.

Leeds have signed a number of youth players from Spain since Victor Orta was hired as the Director of Football, and while not all of them have worked out, Hugo Diaz captained the U23s to a PDL National Championship and Kun Temenuzhkov is a budding star. Temenuzhkov was also signed from Barcelona.

Will Leeds be able to turn these youth players into first team players? Under Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds have blooded a number of U23 players into the lineup, and it looks like 19 year-old Jamie Shackleton will get the start on Wednesday against Derby County in the all-important playoff semifinal second leg at Elland Road. While predicting youth players into the future can be, at times, a fool’s errand, bringing in a number of players increasing the team’s chances of finding the next Lewis Cook or Alan Smith.

Here’s hoping that we see Mujica on the back of a Leeds shirt in the near future and he’s scoring goals, even if it’s just with the U23s to start.