Where are they now? 5 Barcelona academy graduates who retired prematurely
Barcelona boast the most famous academy in world football, with the likes of Lamine Yamal and Gavi following in the footsteps of Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets before them.
But not every talented prospect can make it at Barcelona. Lots go on to make careers elsewhere, while others end up retiring early.
Here are five Barcelona academy graduates who retired early, and what they’re doing now.
Roman Tugarinov
Former Russia Under-20 international Tugarinov spent two separate stints in Barca’s youth ranks, from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2017 to 2018.
The defender was briefly on the fringes of Barca’s B team and was part of their 2017-18 UEFA Youth League winning squad before being loaned out to local Catalan outfit Cornella.
He subsequently moved to Espanyol, for whom he features for the reserves, but his career never really took off and he’s been out of the game since 2022.
We’ve done some digging but can’t find anything on the 25-year-old’s life after football. He’s kept a low profile.
Rodri Tarin
The centre-back represented Spain from Under-16 up to Under-19 level in the early 2010s and went on to play 50 times for Barca’s reserves.
Another UEFA Youth League winner (2013-14), Tarin progressed to make over 100 senior professional appearances for Leganes and Real Oviedo, flitting between the top two tiers of the Spanish football pyramid.
Unfortunately he suffered a serious knee injury at Oviedo in March 2023. He didn’t play a single game last season and has been without a club since last summer.
For now, he’s focused on his young family but doesn’t know what’s next in his life after football.
“I believe you shouldn’t make decisions when you’re going through an ambiguous period, and besides, I’m very stubborn and obsessive: when I get something in my head, I’m going to go crazy and want to be focused on it all day long,” Tarin told La Voz de Asturias.
“Honestly, I have no idea what I’m going to do. I love football, but I don’t know if I want to play football, or how, where, or when. I’m in a position of reflecting and seeing where things are going.”
Jean-Marie Dongou
This name might ring a bell, given Dongou caught the eye at Barcelona B in the wake of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering first team – a time when social media scouts were desperate to spot the next special talent coming out of La Masia.
The former Cameroon Under-20 international arrived through the Samuel Eto’o foundation and progressed to make well over 100 matches for Barca B and three games in three competitions for the first team, scoring in the Copa del Rey.
A journeyman professional career lasted eight years, mostly in the lower leagues of Spain but with stops in Finland, Greece and Japan. The forward never really nailed down a regular starting place anywhere for long and hung up his boots after leaving Osaka in 2023.
Wilfred Kaptoum
Another from that mid-2010s era who originally joined from the Samuel Eto’o Academy, Kaptoum never really progressed beyond Barca B but did go on to represent Real Betis, Almeria, New England Revolution and Las Palmas.
But the midfielder never really pulled up trees anywhere to deliver on the early hype in Barcelona’s youth ranks. He was last seen playing for Greek Super League outfit Panserraikos but has been without a club since his release earlier this season.
Kaptoum hasn’t actually officially announced his retirement. At 28, he still has time to take on a new challenge but you do get the sense his career is drifting to an unsatisfying conclusion.
Pol Calvet
Local lad Calvet played for Barcelona and Deportivo La Coruna’s reserves in his younger days, but his first-team professional career amounted to just five games for lower-league Llagostera.
After a brief spell playing college soccer with the Pittsburgh Panthers, the midfielder announced his retirement at the age of 24 back in 2018.
After hanging up his boots, he did some media appearances for Barca TV but over the past seven years he’s been working in the field of sports marketing. According to his LinkedIn, he’s currently living in New York and working for creative agency KOSHU.
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