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When Pep Guardiola took over FC Barcelona, he had an enormous task on his hands. The man in charge before the Spaniard was the mastery of Frank Rijkaard. Following a 4-1 loss to Real Madrid, the Dutch international was sacked, but had won four domestic titles including two La Liga, Supercopa De Espana and brought the Champions League back to Nou Camp after 13 years during his five-year stay at Catalonia.
Pep Guardiola was a familiar face at Barcelona having represented the La Liga side in the top flight football for a span of 11 years. There was no stopping the Spaniard in the European continent during his first season as he was able to thump with a League title, Copa Del Rey and the Champions League. The 47-year-old added another 8 to the club's trophy cabinet in the next three years.
Many players wanted to be part of his legacy at Nou Camp because of the eye-catching the football. His signings have also been top-notch helping the club achieve success. Have a look at the last 5 Guardiola's signings at Barcelona.
#5 David Villa
The 36-year-old is a product of Sporting Gijon, where he spent early days of his career. In 2003, due to financial difficulties, they had to sell David Villa for a fee of 2.5 million to Real Zaragoza. Another two great years with Zaragoza saw him plying his trade to Valencia during the summer of 2005.
David Villa spent 5 extraordinary years at Valencia rejecting many clubs in the process. But, when a lump offer from Barcelona arrived, the Mestalla club were quick to sell him. There was hefty criticism among the Valencia supporters when David Villa left Mestalla during the summer of 2010. But, the Spanish striker was quick to come and say that Valencia sold him because they needed money.
He was part of the glorious side that won several trophies with Barcelona. He made 119 appearances and notched up 49 goals for the Catalonians during his three-year stay. A call from Diego Simeone convinced the Spaniard to move to Atletico Madrid. His one-year stay proved to be a success.
Struggling to break into the eleven, David Villa was loaned out to A-League side Melbourne City. In 2015, he made a permanent move to New York and he is still representing them. He has scored 74 goals from 113 appearances till date.
#4 Adriano
Born in Coritiba, Adriano represented his home ground club from the young age. He kick-started his career at Brazil, by spending two years and making 81 appearances with the Brazilian second division club.
The left-back showed such maturity at the age of 18 which forced Sevilla to complete the deal. He made his debut for the Spanish club in a 4-0 loss to FC Barcelona in 2005. The left-back was such a prominent figure at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. During his five years stay at Seville, Adriano took the field 216 times.
However, the pulling power of Barcelona blew away Sevilla's hopes of keeping the left-back during the summer of 2010. Adriano spent a vast majority of his first season as a substitute and illness to Eric Abidal saw the Brazilian starting games in a stretch for the Catalonians. He spent five fruitful years at Nou Camp making 189 appearances in 5 years.
He was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Luis Enrique and the signing of Lucas Digne forced the Brazilian to look elsewhere in 2016. Turkish outfit Besiktas was the side to have won the contest in signing Adriano.
#3 Javier Mascherano
River Plate product Javier Mascherano moved to Corinthians at the age of 23 in the hopes of trying to secure a move to Europe. Before his arrival at West Ham United, Mascherano was linked with plenty of top clubs and said he would cherish at Spain for either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Anfield was the next destination for the Argentine as he signed a five-year deal with Liverpool during 2007 January. Two months into his new life at Merseyside, Rafa Benitez called Mascherano "Monster of a player" after a superior performance against Arsenal.
La Liga heavyweights Barcelona were keeping tabs on the Argentine over the last few months and made a move to sign him before the end of 2010 summer transfer window. 24 million man has won 19 trophies during his 8-year stay with the club. He was an integral part of Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino and Luis Enrique.
On January 2018, Mascherano announced that he would part ways with Barcelona after seven and a half years. Chinese Premier League side Hebei China Fortune proved to be the next home for the Argentine.
#2 Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez spent two years at Chilean club Cobreloa and made a permanent move to Italian side Udinese. However, he was successively loaned out to colo-colo and River Plate in the hopes of gaining top-flight football experience. That paid off well for Udinese as Alexis Sanchez was the integral cog of Udinese attacking system for three years.
The 29-year-old became the first Chilean in Barcelona's history after penning a five-year deal with the club. With his speed to drive past defenders and ability to bag goals, Alexis played through the right-wing and managed to get past 40 goals mark in 130 appearances for the club.
New manager Luis Enrique could not guarantee him game time following the signing of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez for a club record fee. Liverpool were interested in the attacker, but he preferred a move to Arsenal. He spent three and a half years at Emirates helping Arsene Wenger's side win two FA Cups.
Alexis Sanchez made his intentions clear to leave Arsenal after 2017/18 season, but the club was able to keep him until January. Manchester clubs were interested in securing the signature of the Chilean, but he chose Jose Mourinho's Manchester United over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
The deal saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez swap sides. Up to date, it has been a disastrous move for the Chilean struggling to find the rhythm which he had at his previous clubs.
#1 Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas was an academy graduate of Barcelona, but decided to relocate to England at the age of 17. Arsene Wenger guaranteed him game time and lured him to Emirates. He was not slotted into the first team directly, as it took one year for the Spaniard to make his debut for the Londoners.
The 31-year-old was handed number four shirt after the departure of Patrick Viera to Juventus. William Gallas decided to hang up his boots, which prompted Wenger to hand over the captain's armband to Cesc Fabregas. He was part of the squad which won the FA Cup in 2005.
After the World Cup triumph, Fabregas decided to spend a year at England. A year later, he received numerous phone calls from various clubs around Europe. But, Barcelona were the ones who constantly bid for the former Arsenal midfielder and wrapped the deal up. He scored in the Club world cup final to help Barcelona win that trophy and has another four accolades to his name.
London was the next destination for the former Barcelona man. But, this time, it was Chelsea, the arch-rivals of Arsenal chose to sign him. His link with Diego Costa was the main reason for Chelsea's title success on two occasions with Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.
