Barça Atlètic defender Hafiz Gariba possesses the natural ability and competitive edge of a future first-division player worth at least €30 million, according to his former coach José Luis Gallardo, SPORT reported. The 19-year-old Ghanaian center-back, who joined FC Barcelona after stints with the Marcet Academy and Catalan regional club CE Codolar, has drawn strong praise within the club for his physical power, ball-playing capability, and blistering recovery pace.

From Regional Football to Barcelona’s Youth Ranks

Gariba’s path to Barcelona’s youth system ran through CE Codolar, a modest club playing at the UE Horta ground in Barcelona. The defender spent time with the club between September 2024 and February 2025 after arriving via a youth program arrangement with the Marcet Academy, where he was initially scouted at age 16. José Luis Gallardo, who coached Gariba during his 13 appearances in Quarta Catalana with Codolar, noted that the player’s physical and technical ceiling was immediately apparent to coaching staff.

An Extraordinary Physical Portent

Gallardo, a former defender who played in the 1990s for clubs including Espanyol, Lleida, Badajoz, Real Unión, and Recre, described Gariba’s athletic traits as unprecedented in his coaching experience. “As a center-back, I would have loved to have his qualities,” Gallardo told SPORT. “He is tall, super-strong, extremely powerful, and very, very fast. He is explosive, and more complete is impossible. I never saw anything like it, he is extremely swift.” Gallardo added that multiple major clubs pursued the young defender before he ultimately moved to the Barça setup.

Development and First-Team Projections

Within Barcelona, coaching staff under Belletti have integrated Gariba into the Barça Atlètic setup following his progression through Juvenil B and Pol Planas’s Juvenil A squad during the 2024–25 campaign. Gallardo pointed to current first-team player Gerard Martín as a benchmark for rapid progression through the club’s ranks, suggesting that Gariba possesses even superior natural athletic gifts. While noting that the player’s primary area for continued refinement remains the tactical side of the position, Gallardo emphasized that Gariba combines an elite competitive mentality with precise ball distribution.

Next Steps in the Youth Setup

Gariba remains active within the Barcelona youth and reserve setup, where staff monitor his daily development and physical conditioning. The player’s immediate schedule centers on competitive fixtures for Barça Atlètic, where technical directors look to polish his positional awareness and tactical discipline to match his physical attributes.