The Canary Islands team is on the verge of relegation
Barça will host Las Palmas, who will travel with four former players
The fifteenth round of LaLiga will see FC Barcelona receive the visit of Las Palmas, a team that arrives with several familiar faces in the culé institution
Barça is a club that trains thousands of boys and girls every year. Many never reach the elite of football, but other lucky ones do. Of those who make it to the top level, only a select few end up wearing the first team shirt. In addition to the youth players, there are signings who are just passing through the club. That is why there are many footballers with a Blaugrana past.
Las Palmas is Barça's next opponent. LaLiga matchday 15 brings both teams together this Saturday, at 2:00 p.m., at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. The Canary Islands team is one of the clubs with the most footballers who have been with the Blaugrana in its squad. There are four in total: Cillessen, Mika Mármol, Marc Cardona and Sandro Ramírez.
Mármol, Cardona and Sandro, made in La Masía
Of the four names mentioned with a past at Can Barça, only Cillessen was not trained in the lower categories of the culés. The Dutch goalkeeper arrived at the Blaugrana club in 2016, in exchange for 12 million euros, from Ajax. He spent three seasons in the Catalan club and was Ter Stegen's backup. After a good performance, mainly in the Copa del Rey, he signed for Valencia in exchange for 35 million euros, of which 26 returned to the Valencian team for the signing of Neto to be the new reserve. Jasper left Barcelona with 6 titles (2 leagues, 2 Copa del Rey and 2 Spanish Super Cups).
Of the three remaining players, all with a past at La Masía, only Marc Cardona did not make his debut with the first team. In reality, this footballer only spent time at Barça Atlètic, where he was owned for 3 years after arriving on a free transfer from Atético Sanluqueño. He was at the Catalan club between 2016 and 2019, although he spent the 2018/2019 season on loan at Eibar. After this stage, he was sold for 2.5 million euros to Osasuna.
Mika Mármol spent 6 seasons at FC Barcelona, divided into two stages. First, from 2006-2008, in his first formative years. He then played for several Catalan clubs, until he returned to the team he started with in 2018. He played 4 more seasons between the youth and reserve teams, until he left for Andorra for free in 2022. He made his debut in the first team with Xavi Hernández as coach, but that was the only thing he had time to do: he played one minute against Getafe on the penultimate league matchday of 2021/2022.
Sandro Ramírez: "Barça has given me everything"
Sandro has spent 7 years of his life defending the FC Barcelona shield. Of the aforementioned youth players, he has been the one who has come the furthest within the club. He arrived at the age of 14, from Las Palmas, and went through the different categories that corresponded to him by age. He made his debut, under the guidance of Luis Enrique, in the Champions League, playing 22 minutes against Apoel at the Camp Nou.
He spent two seasons (14/15-15/16) in the first team. He played a total of 32 matches, in which he scored 7 goals and gave 2 assists. He did not manage to make a name for himself and ended up leaving for Malaga as a free agent at the end of his contract. The Gran Canarian footballer played for Everton, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Real Valladolid and Huesca, until last year he returned to Las Palmas in exchange for one million euros.
At the celebration of the renewal of the sponsorship between his club and Volkswagen, he was asked about facing the team that formed him: "I have always said it when I have had to speak and when I have faced them. For me it will always be special to play against the club that gave me everything, that taught me, that raised me as a footballer and as a person, I learned a lot in all the years I was there and it will always be special. Now I do it playing for the team of my home, of my land and wanting to continue showing that we can compete and beat any team," explained the forward.
Despite his gratitude, Sandro warned Barça: "If there's one thing I've been good at since I left Barcelona, it's scoring against them. The data is there and you can see it with the teams I've played against them." The former Barcelona player scored two goals against the Blaugrana: one with Málaga and another with Getafe, but he's looking forward to adding to his personal tally.
