Marques Says Goodbye to Barça After 12 Years

After 12 years at Camp Nou, Marques has closed the door on his Barça story with a farewell that read more like a love letter than a transfer footnote.

The midfielder, who joined the club at the age of eight and climbed all the way to a senior debut against Mallorca in February 2026, chose Instagram to say goodbye. No drama. Just gratitude and a clear sense that walking away hurts.

“After 12 years, the time has come to say goodbye to the club that has watched me grow up since I was eight,” he wrote, reflecting on a journey built on repetition and sacrifice: every season, every training session, every match, every trip, every victory. Then came the other side of elite football – the injuries, the doubts, the suffering – which he said had shaped him just as much.

Those difficult stretches, he admitted, taught him lessons he now carries into the next chapter. Marques leaves with what he called “the peace of mind” of having emptied the tank and, crucially, of having fulfilled the dream that drove him from childhood: making his debut with the Barça first team. It was a moment he “never imagined” possible when he first walked through the doors as a boy.

From there, his message turned into a roll call of thanks. Coaches. Team-mates who became “great friends”. Physios, doctors, club staff. Everyone, he said, had a hand in building both the footballer and the person he has become. He reserved a special mention for his family – parents, sisters, his partner and friends – for their unconditional support and for helping “make this dream a reality”.

“I have worn this badge on my chest with great pride all these years, and I always will,” he wrote, underlining the emotional weight of the decision. Leaving, he admitted, “hurts”. The timing and manner of his exit were “unexpected” and not how he had imagined saying goodbye to “the club of my life”.

Yet he framed the move as a necessary step for his development, a painful choice made out of love for the institution that raised him. Over those 12 years, he added, he had learned to understand and respect the decisions taken around him, even when they led to this point.

He signed off with one final tribute to the club that shaped his footballing identity. “Barça has given me everything. Thank you for these 12 years. Thank you for helping me grow, for teaching me, for challenging me, and for allowing me to live a dream – at the club of my life – that I will remember forever. Long live Barca, always.”

A boyhood prospect who made it to the first team leaves with his dream realised, his heart still very much in Blaugrana. The next step in his career starts elsewhere, but his football story will always begin in Barcelona.