As a child barely old enough for school, Roony Bardghji played his football in a full replica Barcelona kit. His parents have pictures of him in the distinctive 2011/12 Barca shirt, with its narrower blue and cherry-red stripes, a cherished jersey worldwide because it was the one worn by the holders of the European Cup, perhaps the best club side of this century, during perhaps the absolute peak of Lionel Messi’s greatness.
Six-year-old Bardghji loved to watch and try to copy Messi. He was far from unique for that but, by the account of his supportive parents who escorted him daily to practice pitches in Kuwait, he stood out for his drive, from a very young, to fulfil a dream of making it in Messi’s sport.
If all goes smoothly with final details over the next week or so, that kid from Kuwait will, still in his teenage years, sign a professional contract with Barcelona, who have emerged as the most persuasive suitors among the several European superclubs who had identified Bardghji as a talent they wanted.
He’ll turn 20 only in November, was setting records with Danish club FC Copenhagen at 16, and while it is never anything but burdensome to liken a young player to the matchless Messi, he does have a fabulous left foot and some dazzling dribbling manoeuvres in his portfolio.
He also has a backstory that speaks of his maturity, adaptability and focus. His parents, Samir and Rola, are from Syria. They met in Aleppo and when Samir found work in the retail industry in Kuwait, they made a home there. Theirs was a small apartment but, as Roony, the oldest of two brothers, remembers it, it had the outstanding benefit of being close to outdoor spaces where he could develop his passion.
The family’s plan had been to return to Syria, but after the outbreak of conflict in 2011, they sought a safer alternative, settling in Sweden. “A tough period,” Rola told a Danish documentary about her son’s rise, “going there with two young children.” Roony was only six, brother Rayan two.
It turned out the gifted kid from Kuwait was instantly the precocious starlet in Kallinge, Scandinavia. Barely had some of the new neighbours glimpsed Roony first kick a ball, Rola recalled, that he was being asked to join junior clubs. He picked up some of his first Swedish words and phrases from new teammates and there began a soaring ascent towards the elite level of the game.
After Kallinge, he joined Rodeby, and by 14 had been scouted by Malmo, a club with a distinguished European pedigree and above all, a storied history as a launchpad for major talent. The star Malmo graduate would be Zlatan Ibrahimovic, later of Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale, AC Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.
At least three of those clubs were monitoring Bardghji by the time he had crossed the Oresund Bridge, the long link between Malmo, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. He had made the step to top-level senior football by signing a junior contract with FC Copenhagen, who could trump what Malmo offered in terms of regular participation in the Uefa Champions League.
The pathway to there would be rapid. Bardghji had joined Copenhagen at 15. Six days after his 16th birthday, he became the second youngest debutant in the history of the Danish Superliga. He made his Champions League debut shortly before he turned 17 and was writing headlines in that competition with the deftly executed winning goal in an epic meeting with Manchester United the following season.
United had led 2-0 and then 3-2 in Copenhagen. On from the bench for the last half-hour, Bardghji, with a volley of poise and careful placement, turned a 3-3 cliffhanger into a 4-3 home win, guiding his club towards the next round and United towards the bottom of the group.
His progress would be inhibited the next season, 2024/25, by a cruciate ligament injury, but by then his body of work as a senior player – 84 competitive matches for Copenhagen, and 15 goals – ensured he stayed firmly on Barcelona’s radar.
They see his crowd-pleasing potential, the confidence and discipline in his wing play, and they sensed a good fit in as far as Bardghji is young enough to absorb the clear set of principles that Barca believe defines their style of play. Under Hansi Flick, who joined Barca as head coach a year ago, that has been an aggressively attacking version of their trademark expansive game.
Bardghji’s usual position is to start wide on the right of the forward line, with licence to cut in onto his preferred left foot, although he takes on his markers happily on the outside.
Evidently, at the Barcelona of Lamine Yamal, there is no pressing vacancy in that right flank role, but the club’s management are aware that Yamal’s astonishing rise over the past 18 months, and his increasing importance to both Barca and the Spain national team, mean care must be taken in planning periods of rest for their home-grown wunderkind.
Yamal will only turn 18 next week, and to sustain the volume of work asked of him – more than 120 games for club and country since he turned 16 – over the past two seasons is to run the risk of serious fatigue.
A talented, dashing understudy for Yamal, at least until that understudy makes a case for a bigger role, was always a key part of this summer’s transfer strategy at Barca, who are also chasing Athletic Bilbao and Spain winger Nico Williams to provide speed and thrust on the left of their front three.
A modest sale fee for Bardghji – his Copenhagen deal expires at the end of this year – makes him a doubly attractive investment for the Spanish champions, who have to work with stringent Financial Fair Play regulations because of past accumulated debts.
In Sweden, the country he has represented at Under-19 and Under-21 level, there is little doubt he has a glittering future. There, his progress will be watched with great anticipation. In Kuwait and Syria, the lands he would also be entitled to represent at senior international level, likewise. There is part of him that is theirs, too.
