Carles Puyol's 'dart' at Real Madrid & his reply to Xavi
Puyol remembers years when Madrid celebrated a Copa against a Barça double
To Xavi's comments he pointed out the return of Pique from Manchester United
Carles Puyol spoke on the show 'El Partidazo' on Cadena COPE about a number of the issues currently surrounding Barcelona.
After a season in which Real Madrid won La Liga and the Champions League, Puyol doesn’t doubt that Barça will get back to winning titles again, pointing out the amount of success the club has enjoyed over the last decade and critisicing those who question the value of the Copa del Rey in the context of a Los Blancos double.
“I remember years when the the Copa was celebrated a lot [in Madrid] when we won La Liga and the Champions League. I think that all titles have a lot of value and the Copa [Barça won last season] was important. Now there’s a new season and we will see what happens,” he said.
Puyol also replied to Xavi Hernandez after the former Barça midfielder said that he would close the door on academy players that decide to leave the club of their own accord in their formative years.
“It’s an opinion which has to be respected,” he said. “I think that it should be judged on a case by case basis. If you need a player and they have left… In the case of [Gerard] Pique, whose performances have been spectacular, we wouldn’t have signed him.
“But for me, in that that case, I would do the operation again, even paying more money [for Pique]. I think five million euros for him is a gift.”
On a similar note, Puyol is the representative of the young defender Eric Garcia who left Barça this summer for Manchester City.
The former Bluagrana captain also spoke about the signing of Nelson Semedo, saying he is “a very good player” but stressing that patience is needed “to see how he adapts to Barcelona.”
On Marco Verratti, he added: “[Paris Saint-Germain] are a team that don’t want to sell, they don’t need the money and it’s not just about what you want, but what you can [do]. But that’s the signing committee’s job at Barça and there’s still a long way to go in the transfer market.”
Finally, ‘Puyi’ spoke about Lionel Messi’s contract renewal. “It’s good for both parties, for Barcelona and for Leo. He’s at his home, the fans love him, he feels really comfortable here… I don’t think there was any other outcome,” he said.
