Pep Guardiola wasted no time in announcing himself to the world by turning Barcelona into treble winners in his first season as manager in 2008-09.
Having honed his craft with Barcelona B, Guardiola took over the first team in 2008 following Frank Rijkaard’s departure. Within a season, La Blaugrana went from a somewhat fallen giant winning domestic honours here and there to arguably the greatest club football side ever to exist.
Not everyone could go on the journey, however. Here are the first seven players Guardiola sold as Barcelona manager and what came next for them.
Santiago Ezquerro
Signing for Barcelona in 2005 in the autumn of his career, Ezquerro quickly wound up surplus to requirements following the emergence of Lionel Messi and was allowed to leave for free upon the expiry of his contract in 2008.
He returned to Osasuna where it all started, but was released just one year into a three-year deal and retired aged 33 having failed to stay fit and find a club. Ezquerro has kept an extremely low profile since.