Pau Cubarsi reveals why his Barcelona team-mates nicknamed him ‘the McDonald’s waiter’

Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi has lifted the lid on the dressing-room banter that earned him the nickname “the McDonald’s waiter,” a moniker born from a painful facial injury rather than any fast-food side hustle.

The 17-year-old centre-back told L’Equipe that the teasing began after a Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade. “During a tackle, I lowered my head, the opposing player raised his foot and caught it in my face. I saw it was starting to bleed, my team-mates got worried and called the doctor,” Cubarsi recalled. “At half-time, he told me I needed stitches. First, I asked him to let me take a selfie to send to my mother and tell her I was okay, but also to have a souvenir.”

To take the field against Real Sociedad a few days later, Cubarsi was fitted with a protective helmet that completely encased his face. The sight of the shiny headgear prompted his team-mates to liken him to a McDonald’s counter worker, and the nickname stuck.

The Catalan youngster has already collected more than one alias in the Barça changing room. After an assured performance versus Getafe, João Cancelo hailed him as “Franz Beckenbauer Cubarsi,” invoking the legendary German libero.

Cubarsi’s rise has been rapid, and while the jokes keep coming, the defender’s composure on the ball has marked him out as a prospect worth the hype. “With the ball at his feet it’s something extraordinary,” the club’s coaching staff have noted, underlining why Hansi Flick has included the teenager among the 21 players summoned for Monday’s derby.