English Premier League
Barcelona’s Jesse Bisiwu urged to ignore the hype after scoring twice
Barcelona’s new Belgian winger Jesse Bisiwu has been warned not to get carried away by the attention surrounding his impressive start, with former Club Brugge sporting director Davy Rigaux citing Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany’s advice: “Don’t believe the hype, don’t believe the drama.”
Bisiwu, who was born in Leuven in 2008, scored his first two goals for Barcelona in Sunday’s friendly victory over Basel, attracting attention only days after completing his move to the Catalan club.
However, Barcelona had already decided several months ago that the teenager was a special project worth pursuing. The club’s recruitment team identified Bisiwu as a player with unusual potential and remained determined to complete the deal despite interest from other clubs.
Four months ago, Switzerland provided an important moment in Bisiwu’s development. Joao Amaral, one of the leading members of Deco’s scouting team at Barcelona, met Rigaux, who was then sporting director at Club Brugge and now holds the same position at Feyenoord.
Rigaux said several clubs had been tracking Bisiwu, but Barcelona showed the strongest desire to sign him. The Catalan club viewed him as an exceptional talent who reminded its scouts of the type of winger traditionally associated with the Ajax academy.
Amaral had watched Bisiwu in person during the semi-final of the UEFA Youth League against Benfica. Although the winger was restricted to limited involvement because of a physical problem, that did not alter Barcelona’s assessment of him.
The club subsequently agreed to pay 8m euros for the player, even though his market value was below 1m euros.
Rigaux, who followed Bisiwu’s early progress in professional football, believes the youngster has a calm personality and considerable self-confidence without arrogance. He also described him as popular in the dressing room because of his friendly nature.
The former Club Brugge sporting director expects Bisiwu to form a particularly strong connection with Lamine Yamal. He believes Barcelona’s established young star could act as an “older brother” to the Belgian, with both players belonging to the same generation, which he described as the “TikTok generation”.
Rigaux also believes Bisiwu possesses an exceptional “X Factor”, as well as the charisma needed to adapt to life at Barcelona.
The teenager faces strong competition for playing time, with Raphinha, Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Lamine Yamal also competing for places in the wide attacking positions. Despite that, Rigaux does not expect Bisiwu to leave on loan during the current season.
Instead, Barcelona want to monitor his progress closely over the coming year, assessing both his physical development and his personal growth. Rigaux believes the player’s second season could prove more important when the club considers his longer-term future.
For now, he has advised Bisiwu to block out the noise generated by his two-goal performance against Basel. Rigaux recalled Kompany’s message as a reminder that early excitement should not influence the player’s development.
Rigaux also praised Bisiwu’s ability to combine pace with intelligent team play. He said the winger’s impressive goal after a pass from Dani Olmo did not surprise him.
The next challenge will be for Barcelona manager Hansi Flick to determine how much he can gain from the Belgian winger’s talent.