JAVIER MASCHERANO FANS

Javier Mascherano

Javier Alejandro Mascherano, or Javier Mascherano as he is popularly known, is the Argentine footballer currently playing for the Spanish side FC Barcelona. He is primarily a defensive midfielder, although he has played in the central defender’s role a few times. He is regarded as one of the crucial players for Barcelona, and he also captains the Argentina national team. Javier Mascherano started his career with River Plate, who are one of the biggest clubs in Argentina. Javier Mascherano had the opportunity to represent one of the biggest teams in Argentina because of his quality.

Even before making the transition to Europe, Javier Mascherano won a lot of trophies with River Plate itself. Mascherano won his first trophy – the Clausura (Closing) championship – in 2003-04. He also came close to winning the Copa Libertadores – the South American equivalent of the Champions League – in 2004, but ultimately lost to archrivals Boca Juniors. His impressive performances in these two tournaments attracted a lot of interest from clubs like Real Madrid, who were interested in signing Mascherano.

However, instead of moving to Europe, Mascherano moved to Brazilian club Corinthians for a fee of around $15 million dollars. Even though his initial days at Corinthians were limited because of an injury, he impressed scouts sufficiently to earn a move to Europe after just two years.

A number of clubs were showing interest in Mascherano, but strangely, he signed for newly promoted Premier League club West Ham United. It was only after a few months that it was learnt that the transfer was breaking certain Premier League rules. A cloud of doubt surrounded upon Mascherano’s future in England, but Liverpool came to the rescue of the midfielder by taking him on loan initially.

He joined Liverpool in February 2007 and soon started playing in the centre of midfield for Liverpool. His debut came in the match against Sheffield United, while his performances shot up to great levels in matches against the big teams. After a lot of speculation regarding a move to Spain for Italy, Mascherano signed a four-year contract with Liverpool. Liverpool had purchased the player for a reported £18.5 million, which completely removed all the transfer embargo surrounding the player. Even though he signed for Liverpool in February 2007, his first goal for the club did not come until March 2008 when he scored against Reading.

After spending three years at Liverpool, transfer speculation surrounding the Argentine mounted heavily in 2010. It was finally revealed that Liverpool have agreed a £22 million fee with Barcelona to sell the midfielder from Liverpool. Mascherano signed a four-year deal with the club starting from August 2010. He made his debut for Barcelona in the match against Hercules in September 2010. He has so far made 27 appearances for Barcelona, but is yet to score a goal.
Internationally, he has represented the Argentine national team in 73 matches after making his debut in 2003. He is also the captain for his national team.