Barcelona on Wednesday announced that long-serving midfielder Javier Mascherano will be departing the club to join Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune and the Argentine broke down during an institutional farewell organised by La Blaugrana.
Since joining from Premier League side Liverpool in 2010, Mascherano had formed the backbone of many great Catalan sides over the course of his seven-and-a-half seasons at the Nou Camp.
Lionel Messi (613) and Dani Alves (391) are the only non-Spaniards to have made more appearances for the Catalan giants than the versatile Mascherano, who has put on the famous jersey 334 times.
Initially a defensive midfielder, the no-nonsense Mascherano was converted into a centre-back by Pep Guardiola and never looked back, despite his obvious vertical disadvantages.
The 33-year-old won a multitude of trophies during his time in the Catalan capital, including four La Liga and Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) titles, two UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup crowns along with three Spanish Super Cup titles.
Of late, however, the veteran had found playing time hard to come by. With Gerard Pique virtually undroppable in the centre of defence, the competition for the lone spot alongside the Spaniard was immense.
Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen and new signing Yerry Mina were all above the Argentine in the pecking order under Ernesto Valverde.
Starts had become rare and speculation was rife that the South American would depart in January itself and as interest from the Far East became apparent, Barcelona moved to sign the aforementioned Mina last week and Mascherano’s move was then all but confirmed.
While his institutional farewell took place on Wednesday, the 33-year-old will play for the Catalans one final time when they take on Espanyol in the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Thursday night.
Espanyol have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg but Barcelona are still favourites to progress to the last-four at the expense of their crosstown rivals.
La Blaugrana faithful are expected to give the popular Mascherano a fitting farewell after his selfless contribution to a period in which the club restored their status as one of the world’s elite.
