Oriol Romeu

Barcelona

Born in Ulldecona, Tarragona, Catalonia, Romeu started his career at his local side CF Ulldecona. He arrived in Barcelona's youth academy in 2004, from neighbours Espanyol, and progressed through the club's youth academy until breaking into the reserve team. Manager Pep Guardiola handed him his first appearance for the senior side in a friendly against Kuwaiti team Kazma SC, and subsequently included him in the squad for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup which took place in Abu Dhabi. Romeu was included in the nineteen-man Barcelona squad on 13 August 2010, due to the need to rest some of Barcelona's Spanish internationals. He was to face Sevilla in the first leg of the season's Spanish Supercup. He made his official competitive debut in that game, playing the full ninety minutes in the 1–3 away loss. Romeu made his first La Liga appearance on 15 May 2011, playing the last ten minutes of a 0–0 home draw against Deportivo La Coruña in the place of another club youth graduate, Jonathan dos Santos.

Chelsea

Reports began to link Romeu with a move to Chelsea on 22 July 2011. The following day he agreed terms for his transfer, pending a medical or personal terms as he was away on international duty at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. On 4 August the English club announced the completion of the transfer, with the player signing a four-year contract in a deal worth €5 million – the deal also gave Barcelona first refusal via a buy back option should Chelsea deem…

Romeu participated in the 2008 UEFA Under-17 Championship with Spain, playing four matches and helping his country to eventual victory in the tournament. After making his professional début for Barcelona in 2009, Romeu became a mainstay in the under-19 and under-20 national teams, featuring heavily in the 2010 UEFA Under-19 Championship elite qualification round. He was part of the Spanish squad which was eliminated from its group at the 2012 Olympics, coming on as a substitute in their first match and starting the last.

As of match played 26 August 2026

Romeu, who is known for his interest in literature, wrote an autobiography La temporada de mi vida, el viaje interior de un futbolista (The season of my life, the inside voyage of a footballer).