Born: 30 August 1973, Barcelona, Spain

Born in Barcelona in August 1973, Pablo Sanz Iniesta came through the Catalan club’s famous La Masia youth academy as a schoolboy.

After making one substitute appearance for Barça B in April 1994, Sanz departed for third-tier Gimnàstic that summer and made 36 Segunda División B appearances in 1994/95.

Sanz returned to Barcelona the following year and appeared over 50 times for Barça B in the Segunda División across the next two seasons. At the same time, goalkeeper Julen Lopetegui was a member of Barcelona’s first-team squad.

In 1997, the midfielder joined Rayo Vallecano and became a valuable member of the squad over the next seven seasons. Sanz’s best campaign for Vallecano was in 1998/99, when he scored four goals in 35 appearances as Rayo won promotion to La Liga through the play-offs.

It was at Vallecano that Sanz also became regular teammates with Lopetegui, and the pair lined up alongside one another dozens of times over a five-year period before Lopetegui’s retirement in 2002.

Sanz himself departed Vallecano, when he joined La Liga club Numancia, before ending his playing career with third-tier Sabadell in summer 2006.

After spells coaching with the Catalan Football Federation and Costa Rican Football Federation, Sanz was reunited with his former teammate Lopetegui in 2014 at Portuguese club FC Porto, where he was Academy Director.

Sanz then followed Lopetegui as Assistant Head Coach with the Spain national team, at Real Madrid, Sevilla, Wolverhampton Wanderers and now West Ham United.