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Messi, Pique and Fabregas were among Barcelona U15s team... where are they now?

  /  autty

Much has been written about Manchester United's Class of 92... the incredible group of players that graduated to the Old Trafford first-team together, including the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Yes, they were pretty good - but over in Spain, they are perhaps rivaled by Barcelona's equivalent... Lionel Messi and his Class of 03.

Widely regarded as the best to ever play the game, Messi was involved in an incredible Under 15s team in 2003, lining up alongside Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas to name just two.

A now-famous photo emerged of the team ahead of a Copa Catalunya match against city rivals Espanyol, with the future Nou Camp greats all together, and featuring Messi wearing a striking face mask.

While many have gone on to forge careers at the very pinnacle of the game, others in that 1987-born group have fallen short despite their promise in the ranks of La Masia.

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at what has happened to that incredible Barcelona Under 15s side in the years since 2003...

Dani Plancheria

Recently retired, Dani Plancheria played out the majority of his career in Spain's lower leagues following his exit from Barcelona. While under contract with the Nou Camp giants, he did manage to play under Pep Guardiola - although only during his one season in charge of the B team.

The goalkeeper helped get the team promoted back to the Spanish third tier... and then he headed to England for a trial with Blackburn Rovers. When that didn't work out, he played for numerous clubs in the lower tiers of Spain, before ending his career in the fourth tier with Santboia on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Jose Hinojosa

He was Cesc Fabregas' room-mate during his younger years at Barcelona, but never managed to make it as a professional.

Hinojosa was a midfielder, much like his more celebrated friend, but turned to teaching young footballers in Catalonia while still playing for local amateur side Martinenc after giving up his dream of making it to the top.

Gerard Pique

One of the more recognisable names in that impressive Barcelona youth team, Pique has gone on to play 527 times and counting for the La Liga giants. He did actually leave Barcelona temporarily shortly after that 2003 photo, joining Manchester United for four years.

He was unable to oust Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at their prime, though, returning to Spain for a spell on loan at Real Zaragoza. He then signed for Pep Guardiola and Barcelona again in 2006. Since then, he's won every top prize in the game and is one of the club's biggest legends.

Marc Valiente

Valiente joined Barcelona at the age of 10 and captained the side at various youth levels as an imposing defender. He reached the pinnacle of the first-team, playing in a Copa del Rey game against Badalona, but never managed to cement his place in the side.

He left the Nou Camp for Sevilla, before becoming a regular at Valladolid, where he played 157 times over a five-year stint. Israel, Belgium and Serbia then followed, before he returned to Spain with Segunda side Sporting Gijon in the summer.

Cesc Fabregas

Fabregas is still best mates with Messi now, but he didn't stay at Barcelona for long after the 2003 photo was taken. In fact, just weeks later he headed off to Arsenal, convinced that Arsene Wenger could push his career on to the next level.

That proved correct as he made his Gunners debut aged 16, before going on to play over 300 times for the club. He then headed back to Barcelona in 2011, winning LaLiga with his youth side, before returning to England with Chelsea.

Fabregas left that summer convinced that Arsene Wenger would advance his career more quickly than if he stayed at Barcelona. He was proved right, becoming Arsenal's youngest debutant aged 16 years and 177 days in a League Cup game in October of the same year. Almost instantly one of the Premier League's best midfielders, Fabregas returned to Barcelona in 2011, winning La Liga, before returning to England again with Chelsea. He joined Monaco in 2019 and is currently in his second season with the Ligue 1 side.

Roger Giribet

Giribet signed for Barcelona on exactly the same day as Lionel Messi, but his career trajectory hasn't taken exactly the same path as the Argentinian maestro. The defender didn't make it into the first-team at the Nou Camp, but instead went on to forge a career in the lower leagues of Spain.

He left Barca for Terrassa, before joining Asco, Balaguer and Artesa. He is currently still at the latter, plying his trade in the regional sixth tier of Spanish football.

Lionel Messi

What more can be said about Lionel Messi? The six-time Ballon d'Or winner has played his entire career at the Nou Camp after graduating from La Masia and he is widely regarded as the best player of all-time.

In the 2003 picture, he is wearing a face mask, borrowed from Carles Puyol, who had worn it several weeks earlier after breaking his cheekbone in a clash with team-mate Frank de Boer in a Champions League match against Inter Milan.

Messi's own cheekbone was fractured during the game a week earlier in which Barcelona sealed the league against Espanyol. Both teams met again in the Copa Catalunya here, and Messi had been told to sit things out for three weeks. But he told coach Alex Garcia that he wanted to play and borrowed the mask from Puyol.

Messi started the match against Espanyol with the protection but it was too big for him and he could hardly see through it, so he threw it off the pitch and promptly scored two goals in five minutes.

His Barca debut followed in October 2004, when he had not long since turned 17, and the rest makes him the greatest player in the club's history.

Franck Songo'o

Perhaps one of the more well-known members of the squad, given his time in England after leaving Barcelona. Songo'o is the son of former Deportivo title-winning goalkeeper Jacques Songo'o, and was spotted while playing in Depor's youth academy.

He didn't quite make the grade at Barcelona, but did manage to secure a Premier League move off the back of his time at the Nou Camp, joining Portsmouth in 2005. He played twice for the then-Premier League side, before being sent for loan spells at Bournemouth, Preston, Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday.

After struggling to make his mark on English football, he headed back to Spain with Real Zaragoza and Albacete, before moving stateside with Portland Timbers. He then ended his career in Greece with PAS Giannina, retiring in 2014 at the age of 27. His brother Yann plays for Scunthorpe United.

Julio de Dios Moreno

A midfielder in the 2003 team, he played for Barcelona C and briefly for Barcelona B, but could never make it to the very top level. At the age of 20, he tried his luck at Terrasa - where he reunited with Roger Giribet for a season - before moving on to eight more modest sides in Spain's lower leagues.

He is currently at SD Ejea - the reserve side of Huesca - in the third tier, playing against the likes of Barcelona B.

Eugenio 'Pitu' Plazuelo

Plazuelo - known as 'Pitu' on the football pitch - is another player who was impressive at youth level but could never break through to the top level. He has become a steady entity in the lower leagues of Spain since leaving Barcelona.

He headed straight for Mallorca's B team after leaving Catalonia, before playing for Sant Andreu, Vilanova, Martinenc, Vilassar de Mar and two spells at Cerdanyola, where he seems to have found a home.

He is currently in his second spell at the Catalan club, who ply their trade in the fourth tier of Spanish football.

Juanjo Clausi

A real Spanish football journeyman, Clausi started out as an attacking midfielder famous for stepping in front of Messi to take all the set-pieces. 'I was the kick-taker but I must have let him take one or two,' he once joked.

He played for Barcelona Youth, Under 17s, 18s and 19s, before heading to Catarroja in 2006. 13 moves later and he is now at Paterna CF, lining up in Group 6 of the fourth tier.