Barcelona

Whatever happened to former Barcelona winger Isaac Cuenca?

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 01 May 2020

Isaac Cuenca was once a regular in Pep Guardiola's squad at Barcelona, but whatever happened to the winger after assisting a goal in the 2012 Champions League semi-finals?

Having spent his youth days at a wide range of different clubs, Isaac Cuenca would have felt that he had finally made it when playing an active role in Pep Guardiola's Barcelona squad during the 2011-12 campaign.

In total, the winger recorded four goals and 12 assists from 30 appearances in all competitions, but one of his notable contributions came during the second leg of the Champions League semi-final with Chelsea as he set up Sergio Busquets for a goal that put Barcelona level with the Premier League giants on aggregate.

Chelsea, with 10 men, pulled off one of the most memorable last-four comebacks in the history of the competition but from Cuenca's perspective, he had put himself in a position to enjoy a successful career at Camp Nou.

However, the then-21-year-old would only go on to make one more appearance for Barcelona. After Guardiola's exit during the following summer led to Cuenca being loaned out to Ajax, the playmaker soon suffered a knee injury which would rule him out for the first half of the season.

The setback effectively ended Cuenca's chances of becoming an elite player at either Barcelona or another high-profile team on the continent. Just five appearances were made for Ajax during that campaign, leaving him well down the pecking order upon his return to his parent club.

Having failed to make a single senior outing during the 2013-14 season, Barcelona and Cuenca came to a resolution over his future, ending his contract just under a year before its expiration in 2015. The development provided Cuenca with the chance to link up with Deportivo La Coruna, who were willing to give him a chance to rebuild his career.

Isaac Cuenca celebrating with Barcelona royalty in 2012. © Reuters

All things considered, Cuenca got exactly what he needed at Deportivo. Despite contributing just two goals and three assists in all competitions, he made 29 outings, game time which would have far exceeded his expectations when penning a one-year deal at Ciudad Deportiva de Riazor.

Nevertheless, it was not enough for the two parties to continue their partnership into a second campaign, with Cuenca instead penning a three-year deal at Turkish outfit Bursaspor. The extra security would have no doubt played a part for the Spaniard, but spending time in and out of the team quickly resulted in a return to his homeland with Granada midway through his first year.

Cuenca netted twice and provided two assists from 12 appearances, helping Granada retain their La Liga status by a single point. With a deal being naturally reached for the wideman to spend the next season at Nuevo Los Carmenes, both player and club would have hoped for more of the same, but El Grana finished bottom of La Liga.

Although Cuenca was not short of offers, a decision to move to Israel to represent Hapoel Be'er Sheva FC never paid off, with just 18 outings being made in all competitions.

Having represented eight different clubs by the age of 27, Cuenca was left somewhat in the wilderness by January 2019. Not put off by his failed spell in Israel, the decision was made to move to Japan with Sagan Tosu.

Cuenca played a key role in keeping Sagan Tosu in the top flight, scoring six times in 29 appearances. It led to a move to Vegalta Sendai - a club which had finished four places above Tosu in the J-League standings - but Cuenca suffered yet another knee injury in February, which is expected to keep him sidelined for six months.

After turning 29 last week, Cuenca still has time to put a positive spin on his career, but he may require a bit of luck to get closer to fulfilling his undoubted potential in Asia.