Barcelona, Spain - Andres Iniesta, a legend of world football and a benchmark for Barcelona, today confirmed his departure from the Catalan club.

After many years under the discipline of the Catalan team with which he won more than 30 titles, the also champion of the 2010 World Cup, said that at the end of the season his career will take another course, probably in China.

'My stage ends this year,' said Iniesta, in a press conference in which he appeared before the entire staff, manager and coaching staff of Barça.

Iniesta reached the formative categories of Barcelona in 1996, when he was 12 years old. He debuted in the first team in October 2002, with Louis Van Gaal as coach, and with the passage of time became an icon of the institution.

He lifted eight Spanish Leagues, six Copas del Rey, four Leagues of Champions and three Club World Cups.

But beyond the numbers, Iniesta became one of the most loyal representatives of a style that dazzled world football with Josep Guardiola as coach (2008-2012) and with Xavi Hernández and Lionel Messi as its main partners in the field.

His quality and intelligence on the court made him an international figure, and his humility in a person loved by all, whether they were comrades or adversaries.

Iniesta was also the main protagonist of the golden age of the Spanish team winning two Euro Cups (2008 and 2012) and one World Cup (2010). His was also the goal that made Spain the champion of the planet for the first and only time.

Nevertheless, his incredible record was not accompanied by so many individual awards, mainly due to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Many still consider an injustice that Iniesta did not receive the Golden Ball in that 2010 and this week the magazine 'France Football', which since 1956 delivers the award, he apologized for never having recognized him as the best in the world.