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Norwich City tried to persuade 16-year-old prodigy Ajay Tavares to remain at the club before he signed for Barcelona.
The young winger's move to the Spanish giants was confirmed earlier this week and he will initially be part of Barca's Juvenil A squad.
"We spoke to him about staying here, we had good talks about that, but at the end he made the choice to go and I understand why," head coach Philippe Clement told BBC Radio Norfolk.
"Everybody needs to be proud about that. Barcelona is not bringing in lots of players so that means he has exceptional things.
"That's also because of all the work everybody in the academy did with him but also about himself, what he did, his parents and his family."
Tavares first joined the Canaries at under-12 level, having previously been with Aylsham FC's Jaguars junior side.
"What an amazing achievement, a great message to share that with determination and hard work dreams really can come true!!!" Aylsham posted on X on Monday.
He played for Norwich at under-18 and under-21 level and had a run-out for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Volendam last summer.
"You want to keep players with those qualities but with the rules as they are it's impossible for us to tie down a player at his age because you cannot give him a big contract - there are different rules in Spain around that," said Clement.
"He has also a Portuguese passport - if it's an English passport you get a bigger amount of money as a club.
"There are a few things that are maybe disappointing but overall one of the local Norwich guys can go to La Masia and show his talent there and I think it's a point you need to be proud of as a club."