Barcelona Football Club on Tuesday announced that Javier Mascherano will leave the Catalan club after seven and a half seasons and head for the budding and lucrative Chinese League.
In a statement issued by the Spanish giants, Mascherano, 33, will join Hebei China for a fee reported to be in the region of £8.8 million (€10million) in the 2018 Chinese Super League season.
Barca also announced that it would hold an “institutional farewell” for the player on Wednesday, that will see Club President Josep Maria Bartomeu and the first-team squad in attendance at the event.
Mascherano has found playing time under new boss Ernesto Valverde limited with the Argentine just making 12 appearances in all competitions as he has dropped lower in the pecking order of defenders behind Gerard Pique, Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti.
The versatile Mascherano joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2010 and has made 334 appearances, winning 18 titles in seven and half seasons that have coincided with what is Barca’s most during one of the most successful eras in the club’s history.
His haul in Spain included four LaLiga wins and a pair of Champions League triumphs, though he did not score his first goal for the club until he was invited to take a penalty in the 7-1 thrashing of Osasuna in April of last year – his 319th outing for the Catalan giants.
Lionel Messi, Phillip Cocu and Dani Alves are the only three foreign players to have made more Barca appearances than Mascherano, who transitioned to centre-back having joined the club as a midfielder.
Source:Barcelonafc
