Thuram And Ezquerro Leave Barcelona

Santi Ezquerro and Lilian Thuram have both slipped out of the back door at Barcelona on Monday after their contracts expired and they left the club without any fanfare or farewell.

Jul 1, 2008 9:23:52 AM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona)

Teams

Barcelona

The duo have differing futures ahead of them, but they both faced the same exit from the Catalan giants after being told that their current deals would not be renewed this summer.

For Thuram, an anxious wait lies ahead as he faces more medical tests on a heart problem that has prevented him from signing for Paris Saint-Germain last week.

Whether that can be rectified or controlled remains to be seen and the experienced defender knows that no club is going to take the risk of signing him while there is no solution.

After two years at Barça, he has now been released after his contract expired on June 30 and will now place himself in the hands of the French Football Federation's medical team to find an answer.

For Ezquerro, three years at Barcelona has counted for little when it finally came to him leaving and while he hardly featured throughout his time at the club, few will have noticed him going.

Having been denied a transfer last summer to Athletic Bilbao after the Basque club's president allegedly went back on his word, the 31-year-old has not attracted many admirers this year.

One option is to join Ernesto Valverde at Olympiacos, but after earning around €2m-a-year at Barça, Ezquerro will only be offered €600,000-per-season in Greece.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com