In 2008, Pep Guardiola took charge of Barcelona and promoted eight players from the B team he had managed the previous season – but where are they now?
In his first summer in charge, Guardiola was busy in the transfer market, selling the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco, Edmilson, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram, while bringing in future stars Dani Alves, Seydou Keita…and Alexander Hleb.
But it wasn’t just who Guardiola signed that helped shaped Barcelona into a side worthy of winning their first treble ever treble, it was his knowledge of the players in La Masia and the B team…
Oier
With Victor Valdes well established as Barça’s No.1, and newly-signed Jose Pinto and Jorquera also ahead of him, Oier was always going to struggle for game time.
His big chance arrived in the Copa Del Ray, where he deputised in a 2-2 home draw against CD Alcoyano, but his next and final appearance did not come until over a year later. Barca had already wrapped up the league title, as he kept goal in a 2-1 defeat at Mallorca.
Oier, once capped by Spain at Under-19 level, made 119 appearances for Barca B but left Catalonia for Granada in 2014. He was subsequently loaned out to Real Sociedad a year later and loaned out again in 2017 to Levante, who he went on to join permanently.
The 33-year-old now plays for Pafos FC in the Cypriot First Division.
Gerard Pique
Not only was Pique one of Guardiola’s summer signings, but he was also a product of La Masia. And the transfer proved not only Guardiola’s astuteness in the transfer market but also his absolute faith that Barcelona could develop the best players in the world.
Pique had been with Barcelona since 1997, but before he could sign a professional contract with his boyhood club, Manchester United moved in to take the promising teenager away in 2004 with the promise of first-team football.
As it transpired, he made just 23 appearances in four seasons for United, in no small part due to the central defensive pairing of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, and in the summer of 2008 he was allowed to move back to the Nou Camp for just £5million.
It proved a masterstroke as Pique played 45 games in his first season alone. Ironically, having not even made the bench for the 2008 Champions League final for United, Pique started in the 2009 final as Barca beat his former club 2-0.
The defender has gone on to make over 600 appearances for the club, winning eight La Liga titles, seven Copa Del Rey, three Champions…
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