Javier Mascherano reveals coaching aspirations

Despite only turning 31 in June, the Argentine is already formulating a post-retirement plan.

“I’d like to be a coach. Today as a player you see things easier, but it gets more difficult when you’re on the other side,” he told Radio Metro.

“I want to pass on everything I’ve been taught. Football is a wheel.”

Mascherano has played a leading role in Barca’s ascent to the top of European football since his arrival in 2010 from Liverpool, with former boss Pep Guardiola thrusting him into the unfamiliar role of centre-back despite arriving as a defensive midfielder.

“I have never refused to change position. If the coach is confident in me, that, above all, I argue, is good,” Mascherano added.

“I had nothing to lose when Pep Guardiola put me in defence. At the time there were a lot of injuries, they tried with Sergio Busquets, and then they saw my condition and my physicality, and tried with me. You can see that he liked it.

“I came to Barca knowing I was an alternate and that it would be very difficult. Obviously I would fight but in playing in my position was one of the best in the world, while I was national team captain and fighting on two fronts. Within time I earned my place.”