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When the 18 year old Russian Amir Natcho moved to FC Barcelona’s famous youth academy, La Masia, before this season, he sought to continue a long and proud tradition of Russian midfielders in Spain’s La Liga. This tradition started in the 1990s when geniuses like Aleksandr Mostovoi and Valery Karpin impressed Spanish football fans. These days Villarreal’s Denis Cheryshev, despite his position on the wing, is keeping the tradition alive until we, hopefully, see Natcho in La Liga within the next few years.

The story of Amir Natcho’s trip towards the top of the football world starts in the 2012/2013 season, when the 16 year old midfielder made his debut for Second Division side Druzhba Maykop where his father was General Director. Natcho played 18 games in the next two seasons before he was ready for new challenges last summer. Natcho’s breakthrough did not go unnoticed and in the summer of 2014, giants CSKA Moscow and Rubin Kazan both tried to sign him.

Both clubs would have a certain connection to Amir because of his famous cousin Bibras Natcho, who represented Rubin Kazan between 2010 and 2014 and moved to CSKA this summer after a brief stint at PAOK in Greece. Even though Bibras and Amir grew up in different countries – Bibras is from Israel and Amir is Russian – they are still very close as Amir Natcho told me: “I have a great relationship with Bibras. He is an example for me.”

The Natcho’s are Muslim Circassians from what is now known as the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic, which Russia took from the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 19th century. During the Russian-Circassian War in 1864 Bibras’ family fled the country to what is now the northern part of Israel near the Syrian border. Here they established a village called Kfar Kama, which is the biggest Circassian village in Israel with a population of around 3000.

The excellent Israeli journalist Raphael Gellar, who specializes in Middle Eastern sports and politics, explained to me the Natcho family’s influence in Kfar Kama: “The Muslim communities are based on clans, and the Natcho family is a very powerful one in Israel. They are one of the main clans and therefore have a lot of power in Kfar Kama, where the entire family lives.”

Around 900,000 Circassians still live in Russia among these many of Amir’s relatives who stayed behind. The connection between the Circassians is however still strong, and Gellar describes the community in Kfar Kama this way: “The village is almost like its own world. They all speak Russian.” This explains why Amir and Bibras’ relationship is so close, and also how Bibras Natcho quickly became integrated in Rubin Kazan.

Just like his cousin Amir picked Rubin Kazan as his first big club, when he went there on a trial in the summer of 2014. Unlike his cousin, however, he never signed a professional contract because he received an unexpected opportunity, as he told me: “During training camp with Rubin an agent, Leonid Istrati, liked what he saw from me and told me there was an opportunity at Barcelona. I didn’t take long to think about it.”

Unfortunately for Amir Natcho his start at Barcelona did not go as smoothly as he had hoped. First, he had to wait for his work permit and later he had to sit out for two months due to an injury. When Natcho, who is plays for Barcelona’s U19 team, finally got his debut, he impressed the coaches and in his first match he scored the only goal in Barcelona’s 1-0 victory against Huesca. He has since played an important role on the team’s central midfield.

After this season Natcho will be moved to the Barcelona’s second team and La Masia expert Navid Molaaghaei has high expectations for him: “When the U19 team gets foreign players it is because they have a plan for them. Amir becomes a senior next year and he will be moved to the B-team in the Segunda Division.”

Barcelona is world famous for its talent work and several players have taken the difficult step from the B-team to the first team. This is also a realistic move for Natcho according to Molaaghaei: “If he does well on the second team within the next two years he might get a chance on the first team, or he will be loaned out to a La Liga club, where the club can watch his development. It [a first team debut] is certainly not unrealistic but the competition in La Masia is always hard as nails, especially in the midfield. It all depends on his own performances.”

Asked about his chances for a first team debut Natcho is very humble: “I can’t answer that question. I just don’t know what will happen in the future.”

Barcelona’s long term planning with its young players is also one of the reasons why Natcho decided to move to Spain as he told me: “I picked Spain because the transition to senior football is smoother here.” The transition from youth to senior football is one of the hardest steps for a footballer, especially in Russia where very few young players manage to get through the phase and establish themselves as stars.

Even though Natcho has not played on Barcelona’s first team yet he has already impressed many fans with his performances in the prestigious UEFA Youth League, the youth version of Champions League, where he has played three matches and scored a vital goal against APOEL from Cyprus. It is especially Natcho’s superb ball control that makes him a special player. With Natcho’s 1,80 meter he is much taller than Xavi and Iniesta who have dominated Barcelona’s midfield for many years now, but this is also what makes him special Molaaghaei told me: “He is not the usual type of offensive midfielder you see from Barcelona’s academy.” Despite Natcho’s position on the offensive midfield he is not afraid of going into tackles, which means he makes more interceptions than other players of his kind, and with his great technique and vision he can quickly start counterattacks.

It is clear that Natcho is an exciting player, and in November last year one of his goals was awarded as the second best in La Masia for that month.

With Natcho’s move to Barcelona, he quickly emerged as one of Russia’s brightest young players, but other nations are also watching his development. Because of his relation to Bibras Natcho, the Israeli media is also keeping a close eye on the young star and according to Gellar, some Israelis hope that Bibras can talk him into playing for Israel one day, which might not be as crazy as it sounds since Amir expressed a wish to one day play on the same team as Bibras when I interviewed him.

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