Barcelona & Spain legend Andres Iniesta announces retirement from football at 40 in emotional press conference

The iconic midfielder has most recently been plying his trade in the UAE with Emirates Club. He spent five years in Japan with Vissel Kobe prior to that, having walked away from a memorable spell at Camp Nou in 2018.

Iniesta – who stepped out of Barca’s famed La Masia academy system alongside the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Sergio Busquets – took in 674 appearances for the Blaugrana. He helped them to nine La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.

With Spain, Iniesta’s 131 caps saw him win two European Championships and the World Cup in 2010 – with a dramatic extra-time goal famously netted against the Netherlands in the final of that competition. The evergreen playmaker has now decided to call it quits, confirming his decision at an emotional press conference in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Iniesta said at his farewell ceremony in La Mancha: "I never thought this day would come, but all these tears these days are tears of emotion, of pride. They are not of sadness. They are tears of that child from Fuentealbilla who had the dream of being a footballer. And I achieved it, we achieved it. With a lot of sacrifice and a lot of effort. And never giving up. Essential values in my life.I feel very proud of that path. I feel very happy to achieve the prize, the dream, of being a footballer."

He added on his time at Barcelona: "For me, coming to Barça was a dream and I focused on fulfilling it. I couldn't divert my focus from what I wanted and getting to the best possible place to achieve all the dreams I had ahead of me."

There had been talk of the former Barca star being reunited with Messi and Busquets at Inter Miami not that long ago, but no move to MLS will be made. Instead, Iniesta is focused on working his way into coaching.

He has never shied away from the fact that he would like to see his career path lead back to Catalunya. Iniesta has previously stated: “Obviously I would like to return to Barca at some point in my life, because that's how I feel, but I don't know when or how to say now, nor does anyone else. We'll see how things go during this time and then we'll see where we are.”