Marc Bartra Says He Has 'Never Closed the Doors' on Returning to Barcelona

Former Barcelona player Marc Bartra has said he could be tempted by the prospect of returning to the Camp Nou in the future.

Catalonia-born Bartra is currently plying his trade for Real Betis, but he began his senior career at Barcelona after graduating from the club's famous La Masia academy.

Bartra made 59 La Liga appearances for the Blaugrana across seven seasons before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He then made the switch to Betis in January 2018 when current Barca manager Quique Setien was in charge at the Estadio Benito Villamarin, and he has been a regular in the first team ever since.

Bartra, 29, has said he is committed to Betis, but he added that does not mean he would not be open to a return to Barca in the future, per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Chris Burton of Goal):

"Right now I am totally focused on Betis. I am feeling very good here, although I have never closed the doors on a return to Barca. I spent 15 years of my life there, and they were very beautiful years. I follow Barca very much. I have many friends in the locker room, and now there is also the coach who made me come here."

Bartra, who can play as a centre-back and a central midfielder, was part of the Betis side that did Barca a big favour on Sunday by beating Real Madrid 2-1.

As a result, Barcelona are back in charge of the La Liga title race despite some variable form of late:

Barca's next outing is a visit to Mallorca on Saturday before next Wednesday's UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg against Napoli at the Camp Nou:

Setien's side were unconvincing in the first leg in Naples last month but still managed to come away with a 1-1 draw:

Antoine Griezmann's away goal, which cancelled out Dries Mertens' brilliant opener, could be crucial to Barca advancing their campaign to win a first Champions League title since 2015.

Barca have suffered humiliating exits in Europe's elite competition in the last two seasons, first giving up a 4-1 lead in the quarter-finals against Roma before last year's semi-final capitulation against Liverpool:

Those results were part of the reason Ernesto Valverde was sacked back in January, and Setien could find himself under pressure even this early on in his Barca tenure if they suffer another premature Champions League exit.