City are believed to be due a compensation package, although there was no mention of the financial elements around Tavares’ exit in the club’s official statement.
The 16-year-old, who was unable to sign a professional deal with the Canaries until his 17th birthday at the end of this year, was touted with the Catalan giants in January and was also reportedly tracked by German duo, Bayern Munich and Red Bull Leipzig, where former City boss David Wagner is now head of youth development.
“Whilst we are incredibly sad to be losing a young academy player of Ajay’s talent, our overriding sense is one of immense pride,” said City sporting director, Ben Knapper.
“Ajay’s progress has been a testament to the fantastic work of everyone connected with our academy, who have impacted his journey and contributed to this wonderful achievement.
“Not least, Ajay has been a credit to himself and his family, and we couldn’t be prouder to see him take this step to one of the most iconic football clubs and academies in world football.
🤝 Acord per a la incorporació del jugador 𝗔𝗷𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 al Juvenil A del Barça procedent del Norwich City
🆕 Acuerdo para la incorporación de Ajay Tavares al Barça. El jugador procede del Norwich City#FCBMasia 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/bW9cesdD9I
— FC Barcelona – Masia (@FCBmasia) February 23, 2026
“Having joined us as an Under-12, Ajay has consistently surpassed expectations throughout his time with us and has risen to the numerous challenges we have set him.
“As an under-15, he was a part of our under-16 Premier League national finalist team and he also went on to become a regular in our under-18s squad. He has also featured for our under-21s, as well as playing for our first team as a 15-year-old in a pre-season friendly against FC Volendam back in the summer of 2025.
“On an international level, he has represented England at under-15, under-16 and under-17 levels, and we’ve no doubt he’ll continue to make great steps for both club and country in the years to come.
“He is a wonderful young person with an exciting future ahead. This step really is a celebration of so much good work done in our academy and we’ll all continue to follow his progress with great pride.”
Tavares himself posted a farewell message on his social media account later on Monday night.
The teenager will initially join Barca’s youth team, managed by Pol Planas, but is also expected to feature in some matches for the ‘B’ team under Juliano Belletti.
City head coach, Philippe Clement, hoped Tavares would continue his football education in Norfolk, when the first links to Barca surfaced, and revealed at the time he has already put a plan in place to help fast-track the next generation of talent.
“I know him, of course, and it is maybe something we didn’t discuss yet, but Ryan (Garry), my assistant, will be the bridge towards the academy. It’s a very important role,” he said. “I always give this responsibility to somebody in the staff. I did that role also before in Bruges so I know how important it is, so I get to know the talents also much faster.
“A lot of young players are now training regularly with the first team. Ajay is a very interesting one on that list, and I know also that he played in the training camp in the summer with the first team, and he did good stuff there. He’s very young. He’s still very young.
“But, of course, we want to keep our best talents, because that’s one of the important things for the future and the things we discussed with the owners that they want also players out of our academy to grow and to go in the first team.”