Junior Firpo will not last long in Catalonia. Arriving for 20 million euros at FC Barcelona from Real Betis, the left back never really established himself, in the shadow of Jordi Alba whom he had to compete with. Having left for Leeds , England , since 2021 , the 27-year-old now plays in the Championship and has only played three small championship matches. For Sport , Junior Firpo looked back on his time at Barça, and more particularly on his quarrels with Ronald Koeman, with whom he had a relationship that was, to say the least,… conflictual.
“One day I asked Koeman about my lack of playing time and he gave me an answer that I didn't find honest: 'You are polluting the group.' So I stopped asking for explanations ,” explains Firpo. He continues: “During my second season I played very little. And yet I was at a much better level than during my first. I think Koeman didn't know me very well. I remember one time when Jordi Alba was injured and he put Dest at left-back. The few minutes he gave me were on the right side and I had little of it. In the team, the players knew that I had problems with Koeman . Against PSG, during the 1/8 final return leg of the 2021 Champions League, the former Barcelona player had nevertheless achieved a great performance against Mbappé, without his coach really rewarding him. “He brought me on in the 30th minute with almost no warm-up. I had several matches where I played well and despite that I didn't play for a whole month ,” he said, undoubtedly still frustrated with his time at Barça.