Ex-Barça:The ‘Kaiser of Michoacán’ Rafa Márquez signs for Hellas Verona.

Ex-Barcelona centre-back Rafa Marquez has returned to Europe. While the veteran defender had returned to his homeland of Mexico for Club León, he has opted to return to European football in order to sign with Hellas Verona of the Italian Serie A.

The ‘Kaiser of Michoacán’ will sign a three-year contract with the team that finished eleventh in the Italian top flight last year. The 35-year-old’s transfer means that he will miss the chance to return to the Camp Nou as an opponent, given that Club León will be Barça’s opponent in this year’s edition of the Joan Gamper trophy. Read more…

Rafa Márquez may be 35, but there will always be a place in European football for players of proven quality. The man who formed a crucial part of the squad that won the sextuple in 2009, chose to leave Club León after skippering the club to both the Apertura and the Clausura league titles and sign for Italian outfit Hellas Verona.

Márquez’s move to back to Europe means that the Mexican will not get the chance to face Barça at the Camp Nou with his now former club in the Joan Gamper trophy. Perhaps it is better that things have come out this way, as a potential duel between the Mexican and new Barça signing Jéremy Mathieu has been avoided. Márquez did not hesitate to advocate passionately against the signing of the Frenchman, saying that “he’s not worth 20 million” and that “he does not suit the Barça profile.” Given Mathieu’s outspoken nature, it is not hard to imagine what could have happened between them.