Fomer Barça goalkeeper Francesc Arnau dies

Francesc Arnau has died at the age of 46. Born on March 23, 1975 in Les Planes (Girona), he was a goalkeeper who joined Barça at youth level and who was a first team player between 1998 and 2001. He was a sporting director for Real Oviedo at the time of his death.

Francesc Arnau made his debut for FC Barcelona's first team on November 9, 1996, in a league match against Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou (3-3), when he was still a Barça B player then playing in the Second Division A. He would end up playing more than 30 official matches with the first team, the vast majority with Louis van Gaal as coach.

In 2001 he signed for Malaga, where he would become one of their most important players of the following decade (playing more than 130 official matches), and with whom he would experience relegation and a subsequent promotion back to LaLiga. He stayed at Malaga until 2011 before retiring and becoming part of the sporting structure of the club. Since 2019, he has been the sporting director at Oviedo.