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…
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 32-year-old is now back in Barcelona with city rivals Espanyol, but he’s very much a back-up at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat and rarely features.
Not only was Pique one of Guardiola’s summer signings, 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
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