It's not that he wasn't good enough to make it to Enrique's team, right ?
I believe that's not the case, but i'm just asking.
I guess Barcelona Atlètic is Barcelona B, the team from spanish third league ? Probably Enrique didn't take him because he's too young, but at 18 i would have given him a chance in the third league.
I wonder where is the catch here. If Barcelona's options are to give him playing time in the third league or lose him for free, i wonder why did they go with the second option.