Defender who started out in the youth ranks of the club, playing at every level from U14 to Barça B. A versatile player who was loaned to Osasuna before joining the Barça first team, where he played for one season, 1994-95, he was known as the “moustached one”. He later continued his career at Betis and other Spanish teams like Racing Santander and Sporting Gijón, before retiring at Almacelles, his hometown team, in 2003.

Full biography:

Johan Cruyff gave him his first team debut in the first leg of the 1994 Spanish Super Cup versus Zaragoza at La Romareda. That August 27, Javi Sánchez played all 90 minutes of the 2-0 away win. In his first and only season with the first team (94-95) he only played 10 official fixtures due to competing for his position with Albert Ferrer, an automatic choice for the coach. Despite that competition for a place they have remained firm friends. His limited opportunities led him to pack his bags for Sevilla, where he donned the Betis shirt through to 95-96. In following season, he signed for Racing Santander where he played for three seasons. In the summer of 1999 he left for Sporting Gijón, then playing in the Second Division. Finally he retired in his native Lleida, where played his final games for C.F. Balaguer and EFAC Almacelles.

Honours:

1 Spanish Super Cup (1994-1995)