Abidal's confession: Bartomeu rejected the Pochettino proposition, I wanted Neymar - he took Griezmann, I brought an investor to save the club, Bartomeu did not accept

August 2020. After two years, Eric Abidal officially leaves the position of technical secretary of Barcelona, ​​which is the position most similar to the sports director.

After the final report of the catastrophe that Barcelona suffered against Bayern Munich in the semifinals of the Champions League, Eric Abidal was a victim of the internal war where then-President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his trustees were on one side and Lionel Messi and the locker room on the other side.

More than seven months have passed since the isolation in which the former Barcelona midfielder found himself after leaving the club, and now he has decided to talk about everything. About the club's controversial treatment of Messi, his indifferences with the club's icon, the roller coaster that Ernesto Valverde went through, how club politics prevented Abidal from bringing in Mauricio Pochettino, why Barça missed the chance to bring Neymar back in the summer of 2019 and how bringing in Antoine Griezmann closed the doors for that project.

Messi & Abidal (©David Ramos/Gallo Images)

At the beginning of the interview for the British Telegraph, Abidal admitted that during the drive from Lisbon to Barcelona he remembered the words of the returnee to the presidential chair Joan Laporta, who sent him a clear message on the day of the election as technical secretary: "You'll see if they will let you work" .

"In December 2018, I did a full analysis of the coach, his professional staff and team. Then I suggested that Valverde be replaced. I told the president it was all up to him now. But he told me, ‘It’s not easy to do’. Instead of being fired, he decided to extend Valverde's contract just two months after we talked. He did the exact opposite of what I suggested, "Abidal said.

"I accepted that decision, of course, I continued to give the coach full support. But, it was all kind of weird for me because I was in favor of Valverde being replaced a little earlier."

Bartomeu, Setien & Abidal (©Alex Caparros/Gallo Images)

Less than a year after he extended his contract, Bartomeu fired Valverde, in January last year. Abidal then wanted Mauricio Pochettino, but he encountered strong resistance from the club, because the rules prevented the Argentine from taking over the team.

"On my wish list were Pochettino, Setien, Allegri and Xavi. Quique Setien was eventually chosen, but my first option was Pochettino. I told the management: "I want to bring the best coach on the market." I was not interested in politics, nor in the fact that he had been to Espanyol before. That is not politics for me. I wanted the best, Pochettino is one of the best in the coaching business. He got to the Champions League final with Tottenham, you have to respect that. He has a good coaching philosophy, the players love him and I believe he would be the best coach for Barcelona. Of course, if he was offered a real project. "

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Of course, the biggest problem for Pochettino in the eyes of the people of Barcelona was not his playing and coaching past, but the statement that he would "rather be a farm worker in Argentina than work in some clubs" where he clearly alluded to Barcelona.

"I know what the problem was and the management went for that argument. The problem was not the coaching quality, but something else. But he gave that interview many years ago, I will not say that he spoke badly about Barcelona, ​​but what he said was a big problem for some people, who persistently said that Pochettino "does not respect the club". But, Mourinho also told in his time how Barcelona is in his heart, and then he became the coach of Real Madrid. It’s all a weird mix of politics and professional decisions. "Barcelona is a unique club with a huge management and a large number of people who make decisions."

Messi & Neymar (©David Ramos/Gallo Images)

For Abidal, the car went downhill shortly after the arrival of Quique Setien. Shortly after he stated that it was necessary for the team to show a higher level of commitment, he was publicly attacked by his former teammate - Lionel Messi.

"I still think I was right. They needed to train and work harder. During our time with Pep Guardiola, we often said, ‘Do you want to be the best? Then you have to train and work like the best. You will only win everything if you are committed every day. ' That's what I said then. "I never said that the players want to get rid of the coach."

But Messi was not interested in that…

"Messi later called me to talk face to face. We had a heated discussion, but I accepted everything that was said. I have no problem with that. I felt comfortable because only Messi could talk to me like that, no one else. I respect that. I also understand that Messi is the captain and that he wanted to defend the team, but I never said that Messi wants the coach to leave. Never".

Messi's throwing up ritual resolved

He admits that the relationship with Messi remained good even after the discussion they had. What worried him more was that his proposals were often rejected firmly… Alongside Pochettino offering, Abidal found himself stranded because of Neymar. He wanted him back at the club in the summer of 2019, but the club decided to buy Antoine Griezmann instead.

"Ten days before the end of the transfer window, I went to Paris to talk to Leonardo. I was in accompanied by my then CEO. We talked about Neymar. I thought, if the general manager of Barcelona is with me in Paris, then it is because we would buy Neymar. But it was not so. We bought Griezmann, and I believe that Neymar would have returned to Barça 100 percent if Antoine hadn't came. We needed Neymar for several reasons. First of all, because we needed a winger, and Neymar is a Barcelona man and he played fantastically. The president decided to buy Griezmann after all. "

Abidal admits that he tried to convince Neymar to return to Camp Nou that summer.

"One of the arguments against Neymar's purchase was an active court procedure between him and the club, which was not easy to overcome. They said even then that Neymar would have to withdraw the lawsuit (due to unpaid bonuses) in order to think about buying him back at all. However, that was not my problem because I was not at the club at the time when that problem arose. If it weren't for that, I could have brought Neymar back. "

Stoichkov harsh on Griezmann: With him in the squad, Barca play with 10 men

In the time after Neymar's departure for Paris, Barcelona's debts became bigger, and with the pandemic, the situation in the club became catastrophic. Abidal says that he once warned Bartomeu to be careful about the financial situation and not to offer strong contracts to the players, but he did not listen to him…

“Look, in March 2019, I introduced an investor to the club, a strong firm. I can't say which one, but I presented everything to the general director and his people. Pep Segura and I have been to England twice. That company was ready to invest huge money in the club in order to solve the financial crisis. The talks lasted until November 2020, but nothing happened. "

After that, everything went dizzyingly downhill…

"I believe I was able to solve the financial crisis. It was not easy because the debt was already huge at that time, and Barcelona kept all the data on the debts and did not share them with anyone. When you have an investor ready to bring his money, he wants to know everything. Barcelona did not want to share information, they kept it a top secret. I believe that the people in the club were probably ashamed of the account balance and to show it to powerful people. That would create a bad image of those who ran the club. In Barcelona, ​​everyone wanted to take care of themselves. Everyone was thinking, "Don't show anyone that I'm doing a bad job, because everyone will judge me." That was not good. "

Griezmann & Bartomeu (©Albert Gea/Gallo Images)

Seven months after he left, Abidal is ready for a new challenge. He would like to continue his career in the Premier League, and he is reportedly particularly impressed by the way Leicester works.

"When I started studying for a master's degree in 2015, I felt that my future would be to become a sports director. After two years of experience in Barcelona, ​​I can freely say that this is what I want to do. There are not many clubs like Barcelona. If you have a club with the right project, focused on players from your own academy, to get the most out of the team and create a good financial balance, even small clubs can do great things. That is my philosophy. Just look at what Leicester did. That really impressed me. I talked to people from Leicester when I was still at Barça and I was blown away by how things were arranged at the club. Everyone knows their role, the atmosphere was great and everyone felt comfortable. They were not afraid of failure. "

'Messi I love you, and Barcelona loves you'

He says that he has worked a lot on improving his English, that his family also speaks the language very well, which is why he thinks that his future is in the Premier League.

"One of the best leagues in the world, of course I am interested in working there. I speak French, Spanish, English, so I'm open to many options. "

Finally, a little bit about what awaits Barcelona now that Joan Laporta has returned to the club…

"Laporta can be a good thing for the club because he knows how things work. I'm not worried, but let's talk about when things start to happen. Will Messi stay? He is the best player of all time and he dedicated his entire career to Barcelona. That’s why it’s important that he stays. Of course, everything will depend on him and his wishes. Will he be satisfied with the management, professional staff, team, project, ideas… Messi brings a lot from the sports and marketing aspect, he is an incredible investment for every team. But I hope that he will be a member of Barcelona for a long, long, long time. "