Alen Halilovic: Barcelona are no longer in touch with me

Las Palmas midfielder Alan Halilovic says he congratulated his Croatian compatriot and former Barcelona team-mate Ivan Rakitic after the comeback against PSG.

Halilovic says he sent Rakitic a message not only to celebrate Barcelona’s astonishing 6-1 victory over PSG but also for his 29th birthday on Friday, as well as his new contract with the Catalan giants. 

“I watched the Barcelona game it was incredible,” he said.  “I am very happy for them. Because of them, I am happy for Rakitic, I saw today he signed a new contract for his birthday — congratulations to him. 

“I sent him a message because he’s my friend and he helped me a lot.”

Halilovic signed for Barcelona in the summer of 2014, playing several times for the B team but only making one appearance for the first team, in January 2015 as a substitute in the Copa del Rey.

The player had been likened to Lionel Messi for his style of dribbling, although he struggled to make an impact at Hamburg after signing for them from Barcelona for 5 million euros, before being loaned to Las Palmas for one-and-a-half seasons.

Halilovic says Barcelona are no longer in touch with him.

“No, I don’t speak now with them because I will be here for one-and-a-half years, not just half a year, and I am very focused on playing well here,” he explained.

“I have only been here one month, I need more time to meet these guys, the coach, the city also. But I think first month was good for me, I played in every match and that’s the most important for any player.”

Halilovic was speaking after his team’s 4-3 defeat by Espanyol on Friday night at Cornella, a match in which he was enthused by the performance, if not the result.

“I think we have a good team, we play good football, a good style,” he added. “But we need to have more concentration and defend better.”