page_title: Marc Overmars
section_title: Barcelona
hierarchical_section_title: Marc Overmars / Club career / Barcelona
caption_attribution_description: nl:Emmanuel Petit als voetballer van nl:FC Barcelona (juli 2000)
context_page_description: Marc Overmars is a Dutch former footballer and the current director of football at Ajax. During his football career, he played as a winger and was renowned for his speed and technical skills.
  Overmars was born in Emst and was passionate about football at an early age. He began his playing career at SV Epe before joining Go Ahead Eagles' youth team in 1987. He secured a place in the first team by the 1990–91 season, but joined Willem II in time for the following season. His stay at the club was short; after 31 appearances he signed for Ajax in 1992. He established himself as a key member of the team that won three Eredivisie titles from between 1994 and 1996 and the UEFA Champions League in 1995. In December 1995, Overmars sustained a cruciate ligament injury which ruled him out of playing for eight months.
  In 1997, he joined Arsenal; his performances at the club were indifferent to begin with and attracted criticism from football pundits and fans alike. By the end of his first season, Overmars became a focal point of Arsenal's league and cup double success.
context_section_description: After the Netherlands' exit at Euro 2000, Lazio and Barcelona were reportedly interested in signing Overmars; the latter club hastened their efforts once Joan Gaspart was elected as president. Overmars was "flattered" by Barcelona's interest and said moving to such a club would "excite any player". Gaspart travelled to London to open negotiations with Arsenal and eventually reached an agreement to sign Overmars and his teammate Emmanuel Petit for a combined fee of around £32 million in July 2000. Overmars cost £25 million, making him the most expensive player in Dutch football history. The announcement of his transfer was unconventional; he publicised it on his personal website before informing the media. His site garnered 250,000 hits in one day, highlighting the internet's "potential for exponential growth" in regards to football. Overmars was delighted with the move, saying, "I can't wait to pull on the famous shirt and play my first game."
  Overmars made his debut for Barcelona against Arsenal in the Amsterdam Tournament in August 2000. He lasted 45 minutes and was substituted after sustaining an ankle injury. His first competitive start came at home to Málaga on 8 September 2000. His performance in the match started off well, then faded before coming back in the second half, opined Andrés Astruells in El Mundo Deportivo. He scored his first goal for the club at home to Racing de Santander on 23 September 2000; it involved him dribbling the ball around the goalkeeper. Barcelona made an indifferent start to the 2000–01 season and by February 2001, journalist Sid Lowe commented it looked improbable that Lorenzo Serra Ferrer would remain as manager of the club. Wenger was touted as his replacement after reportedly meeting with Gaspart. Overmars believed his former manager was going to leave Arsenal and revealed that, "Barcelona have asked for lots of information about Wenger. I think something could happen soon." In La Liga, Overmars scored the team's seventh goal in their 7–0 win against Athletic Bilbao in February 2001; his performance was rated four stars out of five by El Mundo Deportivo.
  Barcelona exited the semi-final stage of the UEFA Cup to Liverpool in April 2001. Serra Ferrer was sacked a week later and replaced by Carles Rexach. As the season drew to a close, Overmars turned into an influential player for Barcelona. Lowe labelled him as "Barça's only decent player in recent weeks" and was surprised he started on the bench against Real Valladolid in June 2001. When Overmars came on, he scored the equaliser to earn Barcelona a 2–2 draw. The team ended the campaign in fourth place after a dramatic 3–2 win against Valencia.
  In the 2001–02 season, Barcelona once more finished fourth in the league. Petit left the club to join Chelsea before the season commenced, as he had found his first team opportunities limited. While on international duty with the Netherlands in September 2001, Overmars suffered a bruised knee and as a result did not play for Barcelona for a month. In November 2001, he scored Barcelona's third goal against Liverpool in the Champions League, which came after 29 uninterrupted passes. It was described by the Daily Mirror as "arguably the greatest team goal ever scored". Compared to the previous season, Overmars was used more sparingly in matches. Rexach had changed the team's formation to accommodate new signing Javier Saviola and promoted Xavi as a first-team regular. Overmars made an impact as a substitute against Galatasaray in December 2001; he set up Saviola twice to earn Barcelona a 2–2 draw. Mircea Lucescu, the manager of Galatasaray, complimented Overmars afterwards: "When we were 2–0 up I told my players at half-time to maintain the result, but Overmars is a great player. We did not have a solution to him and it threw our game off balance."
  Overmars was subject to transfer speculation in early 2002 because of his limited role in the first team, but he revealed he was happy to stay at Barcelona: "My priority now is that the team wins. Personal issues are not important. I'm here for whatever
caption: Emmanuel Petit joined Overmars at Barcelona in 2000.
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