Denis Suarez
Spanish youth international playmaker Denis Suarez joined Barcelona on 21 August 2013 after two years in City’s Elite Development Squad.
The 20-year old has yet to play for the first-team at the Camp Nou but he has turned out on more than 20 occasions for Barcelona B.
Denis scored his first goal for the club away at Alcorcon on 5 January 2014. He followed that up with a double against Hercules a few days later and another against Real Madrid B last Saturday. Since the turn of the year, he’s netted six times in his seven appearances.
Suarez appeared for City’s first-team twice, with both appearances coming in the Capital One Cup, the last of which was in the 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa in 2012/13.
Joan Angel Roman
Barcelona B winger Joan Roman began his career at neighbouring Espanyol before he was snapped up by City in 2009.
The Reus-born 20-year old was a regular member of City’s Elite Development Squad but never appeared for the first-team at City, although he was an unused substitute for the game against Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Europa League in 2011/12.
He joined Barcelona in June 2012 and he’s since played more than 40 games in the Segunda Division for Barcelona B. Roman joined Villarreal on a six-month loan deal on January’s transfer deadline day where he made his La Liga debut on February 3 2014.
Sylvinho
Brazilian full-back Sylvinho wound down his 16 year professional playing career at City in the 2009/10 season where he played 10 times in the Premier League.
That followed a successful five-year stay at the Camp Nou where the Sao Paulo-born defender won the UEFA Champions League twice, the La Liga title three times and the Copa del Rey once.
Sylvinho is now Assistant Coach at Corinthians, following non-playing roles at Sport Recife and Cruzeiro.
Remember this stunning goal against Scunthorpe?
Gai Assulin
Israeli winger Gai Assulin now represents Hercules where he is currently on loan from Granada after he left City in 2012.
The Nahariya-born 22-year old initially joined City after leaving Barcelona by mutual consent before he’d made a senior appearance for the club.
He won his first and only (to date) Israeli international cap in 2008 and has represented the under-21s on more than 22 occasions.
Txiki Begiristain
Equally adept at playing on the left wing or as a forward in his playing days, Spanish international Txiki Begiristain became a club legend over the course of his seven years at Barcelona.
Txiki was a pivotal member of the side dubbed the “Dream Team” which won the European Cup, four La Liga titles, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
A few years after his retirement in 1999, the Olaberria-born forward became Director of Football at Barcelona, a position he held from 2003 to 2010, before taking up the same role at City in October 2012.
We’ll have five more links between City and FC Barcelona coming up on Tuesday as we continue our build-up to the last 16 clash.
