Alen Halilovic talks about his time at FC Barcelona.
Foto: Getty Images
Alen Halilovic (27) was once considered football’s greatest child prodigy and the successor to Lionel Messi (36). However, he was never able to fulfill the expectations placed on him. Now the Croatian looks back on his time at FC Barcelona.
Alen Halilovic moved from his hometown of Dinamo Zagreb to FC Barcelona in 2014 for five million euros. The Croatian was predicted to have a world career, but he was far from living up to expectations. In 2016, Halilovic left Barça again – with a lot of frustration in his stomach.
“You can call me, I’ll run away!” he thought to himself at the time, as he now confessed to “The Athletic”. He remembers his beginnings well. “The first two years at Barça went perfectly. I expected to get a chance in the first team in my third year,” recalls the now 27-year-old.
Halilovic probably wasn’t wanted by Luis Enrique
“But I noticed that Luis Enrique (53, then coach at FC Barcelona, editor’s note) didn’t want me there.” Halilovic made his professional debut at Barça in 2015 in the cup game against FC Elche (4-0). This was the only time he appeared for the Catalans’ first team.
Just six months later, the midfielder was loaned to Sporting Gijón. He had a strong season there, appearing 37 times across all competitions and contributing five goals and five assists. However, he had not really established himself in world football.
Halilovic about that time: “I was supposed to stay another year because I played really well. I expected that I would be allowed to go to the European Championship with the national team, but I wasn’t nominated,” he is still annoyed today: “Then Barcelona said, that I was going to be awarded again and I was frustrated about everything.”
Halilovic admits mistakes
Ultimately he was sold to Hamburger SV for five million euros, but he didn’t find happiness there either and became a real wandering bird. The 27-year-old is currently playing for Fortuna Sittard, eleventh in the Eredivisie. In any case, he has taken one thing with him from his career so far: “When you’re young, you think that you don’t have time. That you have to be better than Iniesta and Xavi.” In retrospect, he “should have been more patient. Just train and wait.”
Sources used
The Athletic
2024-01-21 15:37:27
#Exprodigy #Halilovic #time #Barça
