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| AFP / Pau Barrena A tearful Andres Iniesta has announced he is leaving Barcelona after 22 years associated with the club |
In a press conference attended by members of the first team and the club's board, Iniesta said he wanted to finish at Barca "feeling useful, feeling important and still winning titles".
Iniesta is expected to continue his career at a club in
the Chinese Super League but remained tight-lipped on his next
destination. The 33-year-old revealed only that it will be outside
Europe, reiterating he would never play against Barcelona.
After
joining Barca's academy, La Masia, aged 12, Iniesta blossomed into one
of the Catalans' greatest ever players, winning four Champions League
and eight La Liga titles, and lifting the World Cup with Spain.
Struggling
to hold back the tears, Iniesta said: "I understand that in the near
future I will not be able to give the best of myself in all senses, both
physically and mentally.
"If I had imagined finishing my career
here, it would have been like this, feeling useful, feeling important
and still winning titles.
"It's a very difficult day for me
because I've been here all my life and to say goodbye to my home and my
life here is very hard."
Iniesta's short speech was greeted by
applause and the congratulations are likely to continue on Sunday, when
he can collect his ninth La Liga title. Barcelona need only a point
against Deportivo La Coruna to be crowned champions.
- Will leave Europe -
It
would secure a domestic double in Iniesta's farewell campaign, after a
thumping win over Sevilla clinched the Copa del Rey last weekend.
Iniesta
capped a typically elegant performance at the Wanda Metropolitano with a
wonderful finish, shimmying past goalkeeper David Soria and tapping in
his 57th club goal, on his 669th appearance.
He would not be
short of suitors this summer among the world's elite clubs but Iniesta,
who already has an offer from China, will not be staying in Europe.
"There are things to talk about, things to finalise," Iniesta said.
"The
only thing I have always said is I would never compete against my club
so all scenarios that are not in Europe are possible."
Among those
likely to be disappointed is Iniesta's former coach Pep Guardiola at
Manchester City, who has reportedly tried to push the merits of a move
to England.
Guardiola's Barca team, which won La Liga three times
in a row between 2009 and 2011, as well as the Champions League twice,
enjoyed Iniesta at his mesmorising best.
During that period,
Iniesta became the poster-boy for fluid, possession-based football, for
which this decade of Spanish dominance will be forever remembered. He
would have won the Ballon d´Or in 2010 but finished second to Lionel
Messi.
"To play with Messi has been and still is an honour and a
privilege," Iniesta said. "To share with him so many magical moments is
a privilege because I understand there is no other player like him. As a
team-mate and a footballer, being so close to him has been unique and
magical."
A glorious farewell with the Spanish national team is
also possible at the World Cup this summer, after which Iniesta is
expected to call time on an international career that has included
winning the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, between consecutive
successes at the European Championships in 2008 and 2012.
Iniesta's
succession will not be easy, particularly for Barcelona, whose original
'tika-takas' are now down to Messi, 30, Sergio Busquets, 29, and Gerard
Pique, 31. It is hoped Philippe Coutinho, bought from Liverpool for 160
million euros in January, can help fill the void.
Asked how he
would like to be remembered, Iniesta said: "It's easy, I want to be
remembered as a great football player and a great person. I've wanted to
represent this club in the best possible way and I hope I have achieved
it."
AFP
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