Cadiz visits the Spotify Camp Nou this weekend to face FC Barcelona in the La Liga campaign. The meeting of these two teams provides with an opportunity to revisit the stories of some of the Cadiz players that were once associated with FC Barcelona.
The first of these Cadiz players who once interested FC Barcelona is the striker Roger Marti. Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez both suffered long-term injuries in February 2020, which left FC Barcelona scrambling for a new forward even outside of the transfer window.
It was then that they monitored Roger Marti, who was Levante’s top scorer at the time. He was leading the Pichichi table with 10 goals and confessed that he found FC Barcelona’s interest attractive. However, the Catalan club went with Martin Braithwaite in the end.
Another player who currently is a Cadiz squad member, but was once being monitored by FC Barcelona is center-back Jorge Mere. Barcelona were monitoring the player in June 2017, when he was a part of the Spanish Under-21 squad and was tied with Sporting de Gijon club. He was only 20 years of age at that time, and his good ball output, speed in cutting out attacks, and character attracted interest from the Blaugranes. However, FC Barcelona ultimately signed Samuel Umtiti at that time.
The history of FC Barcelona’s association with another Cadiz player, Sergio Guardiola, is perhaps the most peculiar. The player was signed by FC Barcelona in December 2015 to play with the Barcelona B team. However, only hours after the agreement was signed with the player, his previous controversial tweets were discovered, in which he had been disrespectful to the cause of Catalonian independence.
Thus, the Catalan club terminated the contract only a few hours after his signing, even though the player provided justifications for his previous conduct. The La Liga tie this weekend would thus be interesting to watch how these players turn out against the club that they came so close to signing with.