MIXED FEELINGS AS ANDRES INIESTA BOWS OUT FROM BARCELONA

Source: Wikipedia

Andres Iniesta made the announcement of leaving Barcelona towards the end of the season. Today, he officially bade farewell to the club. Speculations had it that he would be moving over to a football club in China. This is partly attributed to the fact that he does not wish to play against Barcelona which is most likely if he settles for any club in Europe.

Iniesta is expected to move to Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai Lifan, with their president Gong Daxing recently admitting they are in negotiations with the Barcelona midfielder. -SkySports Reporter

Source: dreamteamfc.com

These are the things you need to know about Iniesta:

His full name is Andres Iniesta Lujan.

He is 34 years old. He was born on 11 May, 1984 in Fuentealbilla, Spain.

He has spent 22 years in Barcelona. He joined the club in 1996. He made his debut(first appearance) for the senior club in 2002. He started playing regularly for the club from 2004-2005 season.

He has won 34 trophies. This made him the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time. The trophies are: 9 LA liga, 5 Copa del rey, 4 Champions league, 7 Supercopas de Espana, 3 club world cup, 3 UEFA european cup, 2 European cups and 1 world cup.

He has been a Fifpro award winner since 2009. That's a total of 9 years consecutively.

He has been nominated for Ballon d'Or(world best player) twice: 2010 and 2012. He came 2nd in 2010 and 3rd in 2012.

He has other numerous individual awards and honour. He is regarded as one of the best midfielders in football history.

He is a Christian of Roman Catholic denomination.

He got married to Anna Ortiz on 8 July 2012. They have 2 daughters: Valeria and Siena and a son: Paolo Andrea.

Iniesta and wife, Anna.
Source: GettyImages

We wish Iniesta well as he exits from European football arena. He's truly an icon. We soccer lovers won't forget his contribution and entertaining style of game in a hurry.

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