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Barcelona Playmaker Xavi Reveals He Considered Leaving The Club
The creative midfielder thought about a Camp Nou exit on a number of occasions...
Feb 17, 2010 10:04:00 PM
By Paul Madden
Barcelona midfielder Xavi has admitted that he considered leaving the Blaugrana on a number of occasions during his illustrious career.
Now in his twelfth season as a first team player, the 30-year-old has established himself as an integral cog of the most successful Barca team in history and has taken his haul of medals to 12 at club level.
"Many times I thought about leaving Barcelona. In the early years, I knew there was a player ahead of me, Pep [Guardiola] and knew that I could not play too much, and I thought about it [leaving]," he told Canal +.
"I was a newcomer in the first team, only 17 or 18 years old and these comparisons did me no good. A couple or three years, too. It wasn't working, it was the era of [Frank] Rijkaard. Even now I do not know if the club had intended to sell me."
Now in his twelfth season as a first team player, the 30-year-old has established himself as an integral cog of the most successful Barca team in history and has taken his haul of medals to 12 at club level.
| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £85.00 | Draw £55.00 | Barcelona £12.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £95.00 | Draw £55.00 | Barcelona £12.90 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £90.00 | Draw £50.00 | Barcelona £13.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £90.00 | Draw £60.00 | Barcelona £12.90 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £87.00 | Draw £53.00 | Barcelona £12.50 |
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"Many times I thought about leaving Barcelona. In the early years, I knew there was a player ahead of me, Pep [Guardiola] and knew that I could not play too much, and I thought about it [leaving]," he told Canal +.
"I was a newcomer in the first team, only 17 or 18 years old and these comparisons did me no good. A couple or three years, too. It wasn't working, it was the era of [Frank] Rijkaard. Even now I do not know if the club had intended to sell me."
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