Ajay Tavares: From Norfolk to Barcelona – “England is worth watching”

Despite his natural talent, the path to the Catalan giants was not easy for Tavares, according to his father Helio, as he spent years of dedication to “training, late nights, early mornings, and family spending money.”

He said: “At the age of nine, he came for a test at Norwich, and he was very shy, and did not show his football.”

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

“I think that was the point where he started flying,” Helio said. “At 13, that’s when I can tell the explosion happened.”

After moving to Norwich’s under-18 and under-21 sides, as well as the England youth team, Tavares also featured for the Canaries’ first team in a pre-season friendly against Dutch side Volendam last summer.

He is now part of Barca Juvenil A’s under-19 team, playing mainly as a winger.

“There are no words to explain it,” Helio said. “You are talking about Barcelona coming to Norwich to sign a young man from Norwich, it is unbelievable.”