Crosas, Marc – The Celtic Wiki

Personal

Fullname: Marc Crosas Luque
aka: Marc Crosas
Born: 9 Jan 1988
Birthplace: Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Girona, Catalonia (Spain)
Signed: 1 Aug 2008 (from Barcelona for £415k)
Left: 18 February 2011 (to FC Volga of Russia for £300k)
Debut: Celtic 3-0 Falkirk, League, 23 Aug 2008
Position: Midfielder (Central, attacking)
Squad number: 17
Internationals: Spain U17, Catalunya,
International Caps: none for senior
International Goals: n/a

Biog – Pre-Celtic

Midfielder Marc Crosas signed for the Bhoys in August 2008 from Barcelona after agreeing a four year contract.

In a complex arrangement Celtic agreed to pay an initial £415,000 to the Catalan club, rising to a potential £1.6million depending on appearances. As part of the deal an agreement was made between the two clubs that allowed Barcelona the right to buy back Crosas in two years for £1.65 million with the Hoops retaining 25 per cent of his worth.

If Barca did not take up that option, they would receive 25 per cent of any future transfer fee received by Celtic for the player.

Crosas came through the youth ranks at Barca and made his first team debut as a substitute against CF Badalona in a 4-0 Copa del Rey victory in December 2006. Crosas was named in the Barcelona squad who competed in the FIFA Club World Club Championship in Japan that same month but opportunities at the Nou Camp remained limited for the youngster.

He played in the 2006-07 final of the Copa Catalunya in which FC Barcelona defeated RCD Espanyol 5-4 on penalty kicks after the match finished 1-1. Marc scored the winning penalty kick. He was an unused substitute in the La Liga that season.

In 2007-08, Marc warmed the bench on six occasions in La Liga without getting any match time. On 12 December 2007 he made his Champions League debut when he played against VfB Stuttgart at the Camp Nou.

A loan move to Olympique Lyonnais followed in December 2007 with the player returning to Catalonia at the end of the season. He made his debut in Ligue 1 on 20 January 2008 as a substitute against RC Lens in a 3-0 defeat. He made 10 appearances for the French league and cup champions.

International career
Between 2004 and 2005 Marc was capped 8 times, scoring twice, by the Spanish Under 17 national team. He made his debut for the Catalunya “national” side as a substitute against Euskal Herriko Selekzioa (Basque Region) on 27 December 2007.

On 29 December 2008, Marc represented the region of Catalunya as a substitute in an “international” match against Columbia at the Camp Nou. The home side won the match 2-1. The annual Christmas match featuring the national team from the Catalunya region of Spain. As Catalunya is not an officially recognised state the match is deemed “unofficial” and not listed by FIFA.

Biog – As a Celtic Player

Marc Crosas was a member of the Barca squad that trained in Scotland in the Summer of 2008. He impressed in the comfortable victories over Hibernian and Dundee United, and after travelling with Barca to America but returned to Scotland in August when Celtic clinched his signing. He was paraded to a packed Parkhead before the opening league clash with St Mirren on August 9th.

An unused substitute in the 1-1 league draw at Dundee United, Crosas made his Bhoys debut on August 23rd when he came off the bench to replace Scott Brown in Celtic’s 3-0 win over Falkirk. It was an impressive first appearance, with Crosas showing some fine touches and displaying a wonderful range of passes.

He became a bit of a cause célebre with the support as Celtic did not lose a game in which he played in the first team for his first 14 matches yet was not played consistently enough for too many people’s liking. Many took the good run demonstrated his ability and what he had brought to the side.

With Spanish football on the rise again internationally, his background seemed to give him a fillip for some stating that his play was more cultured and intelligent than others. No denying his skill but he still was missing something more that could be hard to pin down. The positives (passing, patience and teamwork) were there but not enough, however he was young and this could be built up. Most times thought the midfield was functioning best when he was in there. For his efforts, he was awarded a Celtic young player of the season award for 2008/09 by supporters.

It all came crashing down to earth when we lost 1-0 to St Mirren in the Cup in March 2009 and he was no longer seen as infallible any more by his supporters. This defeat was humiliating as we’d beaten them 7-0 a week or so before in a game Crosas scored a cracker of a goal rated as goal of the season!

He still got many opportunities in the first team, and played many games in the following season although was never used consistently enough. He didn’t score in 2009/10 and didn’t give any real major performances to show his worth. It was a bad season for Celtic which saw the team slump under the mismanagement of new manager Tony Mowbray, and it was no place for aspiring footballers. Crosas was in limbo land, and in his short time at Celtic he had to restart three times to show his worth with Neil Lennon brought in after Mowbray & Strachan as manager.

Under Lennon it was an uphill climb for Crosas all the way despite the very highly respected early form, mainly as there was a huge surplus of midfielders, with Ki, McGinn, Kayal, Brown & Lujungberg (loan) ahead of him in the queue. No easy task to make headway within that quality. One obvious problem was that despite the intelligence and skill he had, he wasn’t a battler and there wasn’t much confidence in him to take men on in the tackle. In a squad that seemed to be over reliant on Scott Brown to take on the role, it didn’t help Crosas out, and with the physical nature of Scottish football, he was potentially a weakness in this respect.

In time he became better known and admired by the support by having the best “Twitter” feed, which kept all amused and informed on the Celtic team. He came over very well from it and was positive for the club. He even celebrated the goals we scored with the players even when he wasn’t playing which showed a great team mate for all.

Despite his popularity with the support and undoubted ability it appeared that Marc had dropped off the manager’s radar and was not in the starting line-up or Lennon’s plans throughout the 2010-11 season. It came as little surprise that rumours started to arise of his imminent departure for first team football elsewhere and on 14th February the Guardian published an article saying that he had been sold for £300k to the newly promoted Russian side FC Volga, which was confirmed on 18th Feb 2011.

Unfortunate timing is possibly what hampered his chances at the end. He came to Celtic when Strachan was at his worst and Mowbray was a poor manager. The team needed fresh blood on Lennon’s appointment as manager and he brought in so many midfielders that it was going to hamper Crosas’ chances.

Notably, he was a model footballer in both senses of the word. Firstly he worked hard and gave his all when playing, and secondly as he modelled for the club teamstrips in the clubshop catalogues. Made his name in the papers with a little fling with a local female radio presenter as well. He enjoyed himself in Glasgow, and the Celtic fans really appreciated him and his love for the club as well.

We wished him the best.

Post-Celtic

In time he moved to Mexico, and now sporting more tatoos and a giant beard, he was rated very highly off-field in 2016 by lad’s mag ‘Maxim’:

“The Spanish midfielder for Mexico’s Cruz Azul is all about bikes, babes and rock ‘n roll….Maybe the coolest soccer player you never heard of.” (source: http://www.maxim.com/style/born-to-run-marc-crosas-2016-7)

Crosas, Marc - The Celtic Wiki

He never lost his Celtic roots, and played in front of 48,000 supporters for a ‘Celtic Legends’ select side at Anfield v their Liverpool counterparts in a charity match in March 2023.

Playing Career

CLUB	FROM	TO	FEE	LEAGUE		SCOTTISH CUP		LGE CUP		OTHER
				APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS	APPS	GLS
FC Volga	18 Aug 08		£300k
Celtic	01-Aug-08	18-Aug-08	Signed	28 (8)	1	6 (2)	0	3 (1)	0	3 (0)	0
Lyon	31-Jan-08	31-May-08	Loan
Barcelona	01-Jul-07	01-Aug-08

APPEARANCES	LEAGUE	SCOTTISH CUP	LEAGUE CUP	EUROPE	TOTAL
2008 – 09	14 (4)	3 (0)	1 (0)	0 (0)	18 (4)
2009 – 10	14 (3)	3 (1)	2 (0)	3 (0)	22 (4)
2010 – 11	0 (1)	0 (1)	0 (1)	0 (0)	0 (3)
Goals	1	0	0	0	40 (11)

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League Cup

2008-09

Honours (pre-Celtic)

Tercera División 2006-07
Copa Catalunya 2006-07
Ligue 1 2007-08
Coupe de France 2007-08

Runner-up

Club World Cup 2006-07
Copa Catalunya 2007-08

KDS Honours
MOTM Winners 2008-09
04-Oct-08	Celtic 4-0 Hamilton	SPL
MOTM Winners 2009-10
19-Jan-10	Morton 0-1 Celtic	Scottish Cup 4th Rd

Pictures

Player Pics

KDS

Leaving Thread (2011)

Crosas exits Celtic to join Volga

Spanish midfielder Marc Crosas has left Celtic to join Russian top-flight club Volga Nizhny Novgorod.

The 23-year-old had arrived at Celtic from Barcelona in 2008 but has not been a regular under manager Neil Lennon.

And he has said on social networking site Twitter: “I’m officially a FC Volga player until December 2014.

“I’ve spent the best three years of my life playing for Celtic and I’ll never forget that. It’s been an honour wearing the hoops.”

Crosas, who is a former Spain Under-21 international, had already been on loan to French outfit Lyon before joining Celtic for a fee of around £400,000 rising to £1.6m depending on appearances.

Barcelona retained a £1.6m buy-back option but did not exercise that last summer.

Crosas made more than 50 appearances for Celtic – and was voted the Scottish Premier League club’s young player of the season in 2009.

However, only three of those games came this season and he has played just once since October.

Volga were promoted to Russia’s Premier League last year and, although Crosas will look to help them in their forthcoming 2011 campaign, the midfielder insists he will retain an affection for Celtic.
“I’ve left as a player, but not as a fan,” he added.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/9401848.stm

Published: 2011/02/18 13:24:58 GMT

Celticfc.net

Sad senor Marc Crosas today said adios to Celtic from Russia with love.

The former Barcelona starlet quit Parkhead to kickstart his career with Russian outfit Volga.

But he admitted the Hoops would always have a special place in his heart – even more so than boyhood idols Barca.

The 23-year-old midfielder, who played 51 times for Celtic, said: “Barca is special to my heart, but Celtic is something else.

“It tells you everything that it was harder leaving Celtic than Barcelona.

“My friends and family know my dream was always to play for Barcelona, but Celtic took over my life in a way that is hard to describe.

“It was more than just a football club to me.

“The day I arrived at Celtic my life changed forever.

“I may not have played as many games as I wanted, but I never fell out of love with the club. If anything, I fell more in love.

“I learned about the history and became a real fan.

“There are thousands like me and they will understand what I mean about Celtic when I say I don’t have words to describe how special it is.

“I’m one of the lucky ones, I lived their dream and will never forget it. I’ve left Celtic, but the club won’t leave me.”

Crosas admitted he almost snubbed the Volga deal in a bid to convince Hoops boss Neil Lennon he still had a part to play at Parkhead. He said: “I didn’t want to leave Celtic, but I’m 23 and need to play football.

Marc Crosas bids farewell to Celtic

(official)

By: Newsroom Staff on 18 Feb, 2011 12:54 MIDFIELDER Marc Crosas has joined newly promoted Russian side FC Volga, subject to completion of final paperwork.

The 23-year-old signed for Celtic from Barcelona in 2008, and made 52 appearances for the Hoops, scoring one goal – a spectacular effort in a 7-0 victory over St Mirren at Celtic Park.

A popular player with everyone at the club and, indeed, the wider Celtic Family, Marc Crosas moves to Russia with everyone’s best wishes for his future career.

And playing for Celtic has made a deep impact on Marc. He contacted the official Celtic website and asked that we publish the following farewell letter to his friends, team-mates and the Celtic support.

Dear All,
After three years in Glasgow it’s time to say goodbye. And it’s hard. As a football player, all I want is to play and now it’s time for me to move to another club and another league. Everything here at Celtic is fantastic, but another club is calling me with the possibility to have the minutes that I need. My job is to play football, and as much as I love this club, I need to play.

Over the last three years I have learnt a lot of things. Now I can say that I’m one of the lucky Bhoys to have played at Paradise in the green and white shirt. Being a part of the Celtic family has been great and Celtic will always remain in my heart.

After my time here I have came to understand why the Celtic supporters are well known all around the world and why this club is so special. There will always be a big space for all my fantastic memories here, the good moments when I was playing and even the bad ones. Marc Crosas is moving to another place, but a big part of his heart will remain here.

I would love to thank everyone who made me feel at home here – the staff, players and fans. I leave a lot of friends here. Real friends! I believe in this team, I believe in this club and I wish that at the end of the season every Celtic fan on earth will be proud of Lenny, Thommo, Johan, Garry and all my team-mates.

Hail! Hail!
Marc

Marc Crosas: It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career

Written by Anthony Murray
Feb 2001
Source: Celtic Underground

It was July 2008 the first time I heard of Marc Crosas. FC Barcelona were on a tour of Scotland playing Hibernian and Dundee United. I paid closeattention because the pictures of Messi, Henry et al. appearing constantly on news bulletins had them playing on the University of St.Andrews pitches – a surface where many of football’s unknown greats have played. The Old Course Hotel was the luxury base for their 6-0 and 5-1 humpings of Hibs and Dundee United respectively. Despite their emphatic victories Barca had used the games to blood the latest graduates fromLa Masia. The names on the match reports included several I’d not heard before; Busquets, Bojan, Pedro, Crosas and several others. What would become of this next batch of Catalan kids?

With great excitement I greeted the news three weeks later that Crosas was on his way to Glasgow. Just as the Scottish Premier League’s smaller clubs enthusiastically recruit youths who don’t make the grade at Lennoxtown, my assumption would always be those cast out of theNou Camp would still be a cut above anywhere else. There’s no shame in being told you’re not as good as Xavi Hernandez. So a hot prospect from Spain was on his way to boost Scotland’s three-year reigning champions – everything in the garden seemed rosy. Sadly for Crosas he arrived at a time when Celtic’s manager, Gordon Strachan, was losing his way. During his last season at the club Strachan’s faith in “characters” trumped a logical belief in football players. Yes men like Gary Caldwell and Jan Vennegoor of Hessilenk kept their places in a side bound for mediocrity, as our manager allowed a simmering feud with Celtic’s star man Aiden McGeady to affect his decision-making. But that’s not to say Crosas didn’t make an impact.

After a stuttering start to the season and a lousy home defeat to Rangers Celtic needed something different. This arrived on 13th September; Crosas was given his first start in a tricky away fixture at Motherwell. I say tricky, with Crosas pulling the strings in midfield and Samaras, Maloney and McDonald linking up superbly in attack the Bhoys were 4-0 up at half-time. It was a truly exhilarating performance and one of those games that had me thinking; “yes, that’s why I support Celtic Football Club.” Crosas’ prompt and accurate forward passing was something Celtic fans hadn’t seen for a while. On fire and with Nakamura and McGeady to return, Celtic’s season looked back on track, but Strachan had other ideas.

The following Wednesday Crosas was dropped as Celtic started their Champions’ League campaign with a shocking 0-0 draw at home against Aalborg. This would be the story of Crosas’ first season at Celtic; come in, do well, get dropped for Barry Robson, Paul Hartley or Gary Caldwell. This was truly infuriating. Over the rest of the season Celtic would win 88% of their matches which Crosas started. This compared to the 62% win rate across the season as a whole. Time after time the lad from Girona would do well and Celtic would win. Then he’d be out of the side and we’d again drop cheap points. We didn’t deserve to be champions.

Including a victory on penalties against Dundee United, Crosas appeared in a winning side on his first 11 starts as a Celtic player. This run included the highlight of the season; a 7-0 destruction of St.Mirren at Celtic Park where Crosas metronomically controlled midfield and also scored one of the best goals seen atParadise in the last decade. I’m glad I was there the day Marc Crosas hit a 33 yard half-volley, in the style of a Colin Montgomerie fade, which nearly ripped a hole in the net. It was a wonderful goal.

The next season under Tony Mowbray Celtic were again stop-and-start. Crosas would play 22 more times and his best days were when paired next to loan signing Landry N’Guemo. They actually outplayed and outfought Rangers’ brutish midfield in January 2010. On an afternoon when the referee saw fit to disallow a fine Celtic goal and to not send-off Kyle Lafferty for the worst tackle I personally have ever witnessed. Al Pacino said football’s all about inches, except in Scotland where it’s about cheating officials. Who knows how Marc Crosas’ Celtic career would’ve shaped up if we’d earned our deserved victory that winter afternoon?

Alas, Celtic didn’t win and the club surged forth toward another revolution. Good players arrived and Crosas was forced down the pecking order. As I write the Hoops are doing very well. Our talented wee Spaniard couldn’t win back a place in the side, but there have been few complaints from him as Beram Kayal, Joe Ledley, Ki Sung-Yueng and Scott Brown continue to deliver on the park. But perhaps its off the park where Crosas’ legacy will last forever.

In these futuristic days of new media, no one more than Marc Crosas has worked to communicate with the Celtic support. His constant and sincereTwittering has bridged the gap between the fantasy world of the modern celebrity footballer and the fans desperate for information about their heroes. Even whilst not being in the starting eleven fans have witnessed Marc’s genuine support for his team-mates and our club. And oh how I loved him bating huns on Champions’ League nights. The Bhoy from Barcelona is truly one of us.

With this in mind there was very real regret today when reading his beautiful farewell letter on the Celtic website. Marc is off to restart his career in Russia with FC Volga – a club who now instantly have a sizeable new support across all of Celticdom. I hope it works out for Marc and he goes on to have a long a successful career. I sense he knows he’s welcome back in Glasgow any time. For Celtic he was the right player at the wrong time. It could have been a brilliant career.

Marc Crosas: Celtic in my heart forever

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/editor-s-picks/marc-crosas-celtic-in-my-heart-forever-1.1086819

Sad senor Marc Crosas today said adios to Celtic from Russia with love.
Friday 30/03/2012