{"id":79132,"date":"2026-06-07T17:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T17:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/79132\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T17:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T17:44:17","slug":"meet-the-swiss-teen-barcelona-signed-via-instagram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/79132\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Swiss teen Barcelona signed via Instagram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney Schertenleib could have been forgiven for thinking she was dreaming when, sat at home in Switzerland in 2024, she received an Instagram message from reigning European champions Barcelona about a potential transfer.<\/p>\n

The then 17-year-old had impressed for her country at the Under-17 European Championships and with club Grasshopper Zurich, making 16 appearances and scoring three goals in the Swiss top flight in the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n

Raul Zambrano Lozano, a journalist for diariARA, explains that Barcelona scouts were desperate to sign her, but, realising she had no agent, took to contacting her on social media to register their interest.<\/p>\n

“Barcelona signed her via Instagram. The club sent her a message on Instagram because she had no representation. They wanted to arrange a call and ask if she wanted to play for Barcelona,” he told BBC Sport NI.<\/p>\n

“She was in her home in Switzerland and just saw a message from Barcelona come through.”<\/p>\n

From that initial contact, a move was swiftly sealed and she put pen to paper to join the Spanish giants in June 2024.<\/p>\n

She was originally set to play for the Barcelona B team, but a strong pre-season saw her swiftly elevated to the first team.<\/p>\n

In the two years since, she has established herself as a regular feature in the first-team and as one of Switzerland’s brightest stars.<\/p>\n

As the Swiss prepare for their final World Cup qualifying Group B2 game against Northern Ireland, BBC Sport NI looks at the rise of one of their top prospects.<\/p>\n

‘She has the quality and the attitude’\"Sydney<\/p>\n

Schertenleib has played 65 games for Barcelona since signing in June 2024<\/p>\n

After arriving in Barcelona, the versatile attacker enjoyed a strong debut season, playing 23 games and scoring three goals as the club won the Liga F title and the Spanish Super Cup.<\/p>\n

In the 2025-26 campaign she featured in 42 games and netted eight goals as Barca claimed a domestic treble and the Women’s Champions League, although Schertenleib was an unused substitute in the final in Oslo.<\/p>\n

In a Barcelona squad brimming with top talent and still aged just 19, Schertenleib has been in and out of the team and has operated in a number of positions, something which Zambrano Lozano views as a great strength.<\/p>\n

“She has played in a lot of positions, as a winger, in the midfield or playing more as a forward and this versatility she has is the most important thing,” he added.<\/p>\n

“It’s also difficult for her because the playing style of Barca is quite peculiar. I think she performs better as a winger.”<\/p>\n

With Barcelona losing Alexia Putellas this summer and the future of some of their other attacking talents still uncertain, more opportunities may come Schertenleib’s way next season.<\/p>\n

Zambrano Lozano hopes with another pre-season under her belt and a second year understanding what head coach Pere Romeu demands, she can enjoy a more consistent run in the team.<\/p>\n

“Pere Romeu always says good things about her although she is not playing so many minutes. She is a very talented player, is so young and needs to adapt to Barca’s style,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Now there’s going to be a lot of exits, Sydney needs to make the step further and become a more important player. She has the quality and the attitude. I think she will be one of their important players in the future.”<\/p>\n

Swiss star\"Sydney<\/p>\n

Schertenleib featured in midfield in Switzerland’s 2-0 home win over Northern Ireland in March<\/p>\n

For Switzerland, Schertenleib is already a key player. She has 26 caps and has scored five goals, featuring for her country at Euro 2025 which was played on home soil.<\/p>\n

She is now working under Rafel Navarro at national team level, a coach she knows well as he spent six years as an assistant coach at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland have a task on their hands to stop Schertenleib, who featured in the 2-0 win in Lausanne in March and has played in all five of their qualifiers, scoring in their 6-1 thrashing of Malta on Friday.<\/p>\n

Switzerland top the group with four wins and a draw from their five games securing their play-off spot for next year’s tournament in Brazil, while they also have a chance to gain promotion to League A with a win at Mourneview Park.<\/p>\n

With the team built around her, Zambrano Lozano believes that Schertenleib thrives for the national team as a left-sided midfielder in a three.<\/p>\n

“The coach at Switzerland until November was at Barcelona so he knows Sydney very well.<\/p>\n

“Switzerland’s style is more direct and different and it’s better for Sydney. She is so fast and with space that she gets she is able to perform better.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney Schertenleib could have been forgiven for thinking she was dreaming when, sat at home in Switzerland in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[15383,41153,41156,3935,41155,41157,41154,41,17,15380],"class_list":["post-79132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-b","tag-bbc-sport-ni","tag-getty-images","tag-instagram-message","tag-pere-romeu","tag-raul-zambrano-lozano","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland","tag-sydney-schertenleib"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116710071808206576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}