FCBARCELONA.CAT

30.11.2009 14:05

Márquez extends contract to 2012

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Rafa Márquez has extended his contract with FC Barcelona until June 2012. He stands in tenth place in the ranking of foreign stars that have played the most competitive matches for Barça.

On Monday, Rafa Márquez signed the new deal that will keep him at the Club until 30th June 2012. His buyout clause remains at 100 million euros. The 30-year-old Mexican international defender’s previous deal was set to expire next summer.

At the signing ceremony were the player and his representative Jorge Mendes, Club president Joan Laporta, sports vice-president Rafael Yuste, Club director general Joan Oliver, technical secretary Txiki Begiristain and director of football Raül Sanllehí.

Happy to renew

Márquez was clearly delighted with the new deal: “I’m very happy to renew with a club where I’ve felt very wanted, where I’ve enjoyed myself and where I’ve suffered. I have to enjoy these moments – they pass very quickly. Now I need to recover full match fitness to try and win back a place in the starting eleven, though competition is tough. I think I still have a good chance of being in the starting line-up”.

Praise from the president

Joan Laporta told us: “He’s an emblematic player who has been a reference point for the team and the Club. He’s a man of great human and footballing quality and closely linked to the Club. He has a quality that goes beyond football. He’s a committed man who has always stuck up for the team and for Barça and has shown great respect for the Club, which I appreciate. I believe he’s one of the great defenders in the history of FC Barcelona ".

The Kaiser of the Camp Nou

Márquez signed for Barça from Monaco in the summer of 2003. Since then he has played 227 competitive matches for Barça . In the ranking of foreign players that have played the most competitive matches for the Club he stands at number ten. Although he has often been held back by injury, he has averaged 36 matches per season. His ability to play the ball out from defence has been much appreciated by the two managers he has worked under, Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola.