Barcelona confirms departure of Javier Mascherano

Barcelona confirmed Tuesday that long-serving defender Javier Mascherano is leaving after seven-and-a-half seasons at Camp Nou. The club will hold an institutional farewell ceremony for the Argentina international Wednesday.

While the Catalan outfit did not give specifics regarding the end of the 33-year-old’s contract, Manuel Pellegrini expects Mascherano to join the former Real Madrid and Manchester City manager with Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the first-team squad will attend Wednesday’s ceremony. Mascherano will also be at Camp Nou on Thursday to bid fans farewell as the club hosts Espanyol in a Copa del Rey quarter-final tilt.

Like Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez, Mascherano joined Barcelona after demonstrating his elite level of play at Liverpool. He completed a move in 2010 and went on to make 334 appearances across all competitions, often playing at centre-back alongside Gerard Pique.

In all that time, the man nicknamed “Little Chief” failed to register a goal until his teammates allowed him to take a penalty against Osasuna last season, thus letting him celebrate just the one in a blue-and-red shirt.

Still, he was an instrumental part of Pep Guardiola’s trophy-hoarding side, and also played under Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino, Luis Enrique, and, most recently, Ernesto Valverde. Mascherano won four La Liga titles with Barcelona, as well as four Copa del Rey trophies, two Champions League crowns, and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2011 and 2015.

Following the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Mascherano plans to call time on his international career with Argentina.