- Sergi Roberto honoured with special farewell ceremony at Camp Nou
- Barcelona captain leaves club after contract expired in June
- Fans treated to emotional speech, including message of love for La Masia
Departing Barcelona captain Sergi Roberto has said his public goodbyes to the club at a special ceremony hosted inside Camp Nou at Tuesday lunchtime.
Roberto's contract expired at the end of June, although Barcelona didn't confirm until a week before the new La Liga campaign was due to kick off that he had definitively left.
"La Masia is the heart of this club," was the message from the 32-year-old, who has spent more than half his life at Barcelona since 2006 until now.
"In recent years I have seen how legends of the club have said goodbye and today it is my turn. I was born a Barca fan and, at the age of 14, I fulfilled my dream of wearing this shirt. After two years of travelling, I went to live in La Masia, sleeping in rooms inside the Camp Nou, without a doubt the best years of my life. La Masia is the heart of this club. There I learned the values of this club and grew as a footballer and as a person.
"When I was 18, I fulfilled my dream of making my debut for the first team, under Pep Guardiola, and since then I have fulfilled my dreams, alongside my idols, who were also my friends," he added, with former teammates Xavi, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique among those in the audience.
"Who would have told me that I would play 373 games for the first team and become captain?
"I would have liked to say goodbye [to fans] on the pitch, but I will always be grateful for your support and for the demands that have made me the player that I am. I will carry you in my heart."
Overall, Roberto made 373 first-team appearances, including a career-high 49 in 2015/16, although injury in more recent seasons limited his availability. The player's versatility and label as a utility player also saw him struggle to nail down a position, operating in midfield and frequently at right-back. But his single most famous contribution was the dramatic 95th-minute goal that sealed the historic La Remontada in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.
As the longest serving La Masia graduate in the first-team squad, he became club captain in 2023.
The armband now goes to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was promoted from fourth captain to vice-captain last summer following the departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
Ronald Araujo is set to become new vice-captain, with Frenkie de Jong upgraded to third captain and the squad in need of a new fourth captain. Contenders could include the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, the returning Eric Garcia or even new signing Dani Olmo.
