Xavi - Barca's youth system is awesome, I'm delighted, for example, that we've hired Borrell and are clearly going to implement some aspects of it. The number of genuine Catalans in the side, and the commitment to local youth, not just talented youth, is again fantastic, and something to be admired and applauded.
Fair enough if you feel I ducked the 'foreign' issue, I don't think I did - I never suggested your academy was stuffed full of foreigners, merely that you have a massive advantage when it comes to bringing through players from outside the EU. It may only be Messi at the moment, but that's still a pretty spectacular exception, and one that would have been nigh on impossible for an English club to attract - not because we aren't attractive to kids of his ilk, but because of work permit laws.
On the other hand, you seem to have completely ignored my comments about being able to pick from the whole of Spain for your academy, and the fact that the best won't leave because you can afford to pay them absolutely collossal fortunes. I totally forgot about the fact that you have a B and C team in professional leagues - another spectacular advantage you have over English clubs, and indeed something that totally skews academy development in Spain in favour of yourselves and Real Madrid.
What you do is hugely impressive, but it wouldn't be possible here, and as I say, while it deserves praise, it should be put in the context of a massively rich club that gains an enourmous amount from being able to negotiate it's own TV rights. The Catalans that do come through also benefit hugely from having to compete against the cream of Spain to get there, and unlike English clubs kids can join you knowing that they will get a chance in a professional league appropriate to their level - something which the top clubs in England can only offer via loan deals, and the top Italian clubs also have to do via loan deals and dual ownership deals.
As for your wages being much smaller five years ago - are you sure about that? Unfortunately I can't find the figures but I know you had players like Deco and Ronaldinho, and it's absolutely certain that they didn't join Barca JUST for the climate and nightlife