Barcelona’s La Masia academy has produced some of football’s brightest talents.
However, the club has sometimes let these players leave, only to later realize their potential and bring them back. Here’s a countdown of seven La Masia graduates who left Barcelona, only to return later in their careers.
7. Oriol Romeu
Oriol Romeu joined La Masia at 13, showing promise as a defensive midfielder. He moved to Chelsea in 2011, where he won the Champions League and FA Cup. After stints at Southampton and Girona, Barcelona brought him back in 2023, making him their only summer signing that year. However, things didn’t go as planned, and he was loaned back to Girona in 2024, marking a bittersweet return to his boyhood club.
6. Eric García
Eric García was a La Masia product who joined at 7 and spent nine years at the academy. In 2017, he moved to Manchester City, where he gained valuable experience and reached a Champions League final. In 2021, he returned to Barcelona on a free transfer and helped the club win La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup in 2023. However, with the team overcrowded at center-back, García was loaned out to Girona in 2024, leaving his future at Barcelona uncertain.
5. Bojan Krkić
Bojan Krkić was one of La Masia’s most exciting prospects, breaking records as the youngest player to score in the Champions League knockout stages. But his career didn’t reach the heights expected, and he was sold to AS Roma in 2011. Barcelona exercised a buy-back clause in 2013, but Bojan couldn’t find his form. He was eventually loaned out to Ajax and later sold to Stoke City, marking a sad end to what once seemed a promising Barcelona career.
4. Cesc Fàbregas
Cesc Fàbregas was a standout talent at La Masia, close friends with Lionel Messi. However, in 2003, he moved to Arsenal at 16, quickly becoming one of the best young midfielders in the world. Barcelona tried multiple times to bring him back, finally succeeding in 2011 with a €29 million transfer. Fàbregas won several trophies in his three years with the first team but never fully settled. He was sold to Chelsea in 2014, becoming one of football’s unluckiest players regarding Champions League success.
3. Jordi Alba
Jordi Alba’s story is unique. He joined Barcelona’s academy in 1998 but was released in 2005 because the club thought he was too small to succeed as a left winger. Alba moved to Valencia, where he was converted into a left-back by Unai Emery. Barcelona was so impressed with his transformation that they re-signed him in 2012 for €14 million. Alba went on to become one of the best left-backs in Barcelona’s history, forming a formidable partnership with Lionel Messi over 11 years.
2. Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué joined La Masia at 10 but left for Manchester United in 2004 at 17. After winning the Premier League and Champions League with United, Piqué returned to Barcelona in 2008. He quickly became a key player, helping the club win numerous titles, including multiple Champions Leagues and La Liga titles. Piqué’s return marked the beginning of his journey to becoming one of the greatest defenders in Barcelona’s history.
1. Dani Olmo
Topping the list is Dani Olmo, whose recent return to Barcelona has captured the imagination of fans. Olmo joined La Masia at 9 but left for Dinamo Zagreb in 2014 in search of first-team football. His impressive performances at Zagreb and later at RB Leipzig convinced Barcelona to bring him back in 2024 for €55 million. Now 26, Olmo returns to Catalonia as a mature and highly-rated player, hoping to make a lasting impact in his second stint at the club.
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