The former French defender Jeremy Mathieu admitted this Sunday that he had the Valencia and sign for him Barcelona, but explained that he had left his old team because he had not received a satisfactory counter offer.
Mathieu talks about the difficult moment when he lived in Barcelona
“ I didn’t want to go to Barça. When the club called me (in 2014), I was captain in Valencia, I liked my life there and I wondered: am I going to warm up the couch in Barcelona? ” He revealed in a dialogue with L ‘Équipe newspaper.
When he received the Blaugrana contract, he drafted a new one, with a salary halfway between what he had at the time and that of the Catalans.
“I showed that bogus contract to the sports director of Valencia and said, ‘If you give me this, I’ll stay.’ Francisco Rufete told me there was no problem with that, but when we convened President Amadeo Salvo, he refused, ” the Frenchman added.
Mathieu, 37, noted that he found out they didn’t have him and went to the Barcelona, where he played until 2017, before moving to Sporty from Portugal and retire.
Mathieu assures that Neymr left Barcelona for Messi
His most embarrassing sports moment, he claims, is the own goal he scored with Barça in a match against him. Villarreal on March 20, 2016, which ended in a draw at two.
“ In a corner I did not see the ball coming, it bounced off my chest and entered our goal. Afterwards, all the Spanish journalists crushed me, as if I had done it on purpose, ” he says.
Your best teammates and your strongest rival
Mathieu He emphasizes that Messi, David Silva, Juan Mata and Xavi, who impressed him with their “technical ease and simplicity off the field”, are the best players he has shared a dressing room with.
During the interview, he was asked who the toughest rival was and did not hesitate to point to the Spanish striker Diego Costa
“ He punches your little ‘dog’ to get you out of the game. He steps on you, apologizes, and does it again immediately afterward. Even if you know it, it bothers you, you answer him and you take a card, ” says the French.