Barça's returning youth players

Several Barça players have now left before sealing a return to the Club. The list continues to grow with Adama's return, who left Barça in summer 2015 bound for Aston Villa and the English Premier League. 

Gerard López

Gerard López was the first to return to Can Barça after leaving the Club in 1997 for Valencia and Alavés. He returned to Barça in 2000, playing over one hundred games and scoring nine goals.

Gerard Piqué

The central defender and one of Barça's captains left to sign for Manchester United and Alex Ferguson in 2004. He spent four seasons there, including one season on loan at Zaragoza, which helped him to become one of the most promising central defenders in the world. The 2008/09 season saw his return and he went on to become one of the best and most successful players in the Club's history, winning 8 league titles, 6 Spanish Super Cups, 7 Copa del Rey, 3 Champions League, 3 World Club Cups, and 3 European Super Cups.

Cesc Fàbregas

Having come through La Masia at the same time as other ex-Barça players, Leo Messi and Víctor Vázquez, Cesc Fàbregas left for Arsenal in 2003, where he played up to 2011. The Catalan midfielder developed as a footballer in those eight seasons, becoming one of the best in his position. Summer 2011 saw Cesc return home and pull on the Barça jersey for three seasons, winning one league title, two Spanish Super Cups, one Copa del Rey, one World Club Cup, and one European Super Cup.

Jordi Alba

The Catalan full-back spent seven seasons at La Masia, before he left in 2005 to play for Cornellà. From there he went to Valencia, progressing from the youth ranks to the first team. June 2012 saw him return to Barça and become one of the world's best full-backs. Since then Jordi Alba has won 5 league titles, 5 Copa del Rey, 3 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Champions League, 1 World Club Cup, and 1 European Super Cup. He also nailed down the left-back spot at Barça and has now played over 400 games for the Club.

Aleix Vidal

Aleix Vidal only spent a brief period at La Masia, being managed by Xavi Llorens and sharing a dressing room with Jordi Alba and Rubén Miño, among others. Aleix Vidal spent time at a number of clubs afterwards, including Veteranos Cambrils, Gimnàstic de Tarragona, Reus Deportiu, the Espanyol youth teams, Damm, Panthrakikos in Greece, Pobla de Mafumet, Mallorca, Almería, and Sevilla, where his good performances led to Barça signing him in summer 2015. After three seasons and around thirty games for Barça, Aleix Vidal returned to Sevilla on loan.

Denis Suárez

After coming through the youth ranks at Celta Vigo, Denis Suárez signed for Barça after he performed well at both youth level and in some first team games for Manchester City. He joined Barça B in 2013, spending one season (2013/14), scoring 7 goals and creating 11 assists in 36 games. He then spent one season on loan at Sevilla and he next in Villarreal, who signed him in the summer transfer window of the 2015/16 season. After performing well throughout that season, FC Barcelona decided to exercise his buyback clause.

Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia was the penultimate player to return home prior to Adama. The central defender returned to the Club last summer from Manchester City. Let's not forget that Eric joined the Barça Escola in 2008 and developed in La Masia up to 2017. He left Barça to join Manchester City when he was 17 years old, where he played up to last summer.

Other players such as Nolito, Aleñá, Deulofeu and Muniesa, all returned to the Club after developing in Barça's youth ranks before leaving for other clubs. Hristo Stoichkov and Dani Alves also both spent two spells with the Club too, although they did not spend their formative years in Barça.