Brother: 'Javier Mascherano to retire at River Plate'

Javier Mascherano will leave Barcelona to retire at former club River Plate, according to his brother.

Mascherano, 32, started his professional career with River Plate, spending two years in their first team before joining Brazilian outfit Corinthians.

The centre-back still has more than two years left to run on his contract with Barcelona, but his brother Sebastian Mascherano has claimed that the Argentina international will not hang up his boots at Camp Nou.

"I would say that he is going to retire at River [Plate]. It is a club that gave him a lot. Everything that he achieved he achieved because of River, because it was a big window. Javier is going to want to return to River to start his career as a coach," Sebastian Mascherano told Radio Mitre.

The midfielder-turned-defender, who has 135 international caps for Argentina to his name, joined River's youth set-up in 1999 before making his first-team debut in 2003.