Top 5 Homegrown players in Barcelona's history

#2 Andres Iniesta

Iniesta celebrates scoring the goal that made Spain World Champions

Ineista made his first team debut in 2002, but only became a regular in 2004. When the youngster was starting to break into the team, Pep Guardiola famously told Xavi, "This lad is going to retire us all."

Like Xavi, Iniesta was diminutive in stature and even lacked the physicality of the former, but made up for it with his tactical intelligence, ball control, work rate, versatility and vision. For most of his career at the Camp Nou, Iniesta has been, and still is, Barca's primary midfield creator.

While Busquets and Xavi shore up the defence and Messi works his magic with the other forwards higher up the pitch, Iniesta provides the link between attack and defence.

His understanding and interplay with Xavi and Messi is almost telepathic, and when the trio are in full flow, they're almost magical to watch, capable of breaking down virtually any defence in Europe.

Along with Xavi and Xabi Alonso, he also formed the midfield of the Spanish golden generation, scoring the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final in extra time against Netherlands.

At the age of 33, he's still first choice in midfield for the Catalans, and also recently signed a lifetime contract. Iniesta will probably continue playing at the highest level for a couple more years, and with Barca being in a time of transition, will need him at his very best.