Ballon d’Or nominee confirms he would love to play at Anfield

Ballon d’Or nominee confirms he would love to play at Anfield Pau Cubarsi Admits Virgil van Dijk Influence and Anfield Ambition There are young players who arrive with hype, and there are young players who look as though they belong from the first minute. Pau Cubarsi falls into the second category. Barcelona have produced enough gifted footballers to fill a city, yet this lad has forced his way into the conversation through calmness, timing and a rare sense of authority for someone still only 19. He came through La Masia, made his senior debut in January 2024 and has not looked overawed since. That matters. Plenty come through famous academies with a fanfare, few settle into elite football with this sort of certainty. Under Hansi Flick, his role has become fixed. He is no longer a hopeful prospect peering through the door, he is part of the furniture. Cubarsi’s rise has stretched beyond club football too. Winning the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Spain and taking the tournament’s best young player award tells its own story. Add the 2026 Golden Boy prize and the picture sharpens even further. European football has another centre half with the world at his feet. Virgil van Dijk remains the standard What will interest Liverpool supporters most is the name Cubarsi offered when discussing the defenders he admires. “I have looked up a lot to Virgil van Dijk in recent years,” he admitted. That makes perfect sense. Van Dijk has spent the best part of a decade setting the benchmark for composure, positioning and leadership. Young centre backs across Europe study him because he makes a difficult job look simple, and there is no higher compliment than imitation from the next generation. Photo: IMAGO Cubarsi’s words show good judgement. If you are a young defender looking for a model, you could do far worse than watching how Van Dijk reads danger before it arrives. Anfield still carries its own pull Then came the line that will stir the imagination. “I’ve always followed the Premier League. If I had to pick a favourite stadium? I’d like to play in a big Champions League night at Anfield. That has to be an impressive experience.” He was not tapping out a transfer request in code. This was not some clumsy flirtation with Liverpool. It was something simpler and, in many ways, more revealing. Anfield still has a hold on players across Europe. The ground means something. On major European nights, it can still feel like the game is being played somewhere bigger than a football stadium. For Cubarsi, that is the attraction. For Liverpool supporters, it is a reminder that the club’s aura endures. Whether he ever walks out there in Barcelona colours is another matter. For now, his work remains in Catalonia, where his development continues at speed. Yet when a gifted young defender speaks about Van Dijk and dreams of Anfield, people on Merseyside are always going to listen.