Leo Messi’s time at Barcelona ended several years ago, but to this day there are still testimonies from former teammates of the Argentine or in this case, former coaches, who saw first-hand what the number 10 was like on the pitch.
Ronald Koeman had an irregular spell at Barcelona and is not fondly remembered by the fans. Despite the bad memories, the coach was talking to ESPN and revealed a curious preference that Messi had with one of his teammates.
Koeman reveals who Messi’s ‘favorite’ was at Barcelona
Ronald Koeman is one of the coaches who had the luxury of coaching Lionel Messi at Barcelona. The Dutchman did not leave a good record, but nevertheless stopped to remember certain moments experienced at the Spanish club.
In an interview with ESPN, Koeman explained a particularity of Leo Messi, who, in the Dutchman’s words, “only gave the ball to the talented players.”
Messi only passed the ball to Pedri. And believe me, if Messi doesn’t value you, he won’t pass the ball to you in training, he’ll just ignore you
“I watched their connection grow. For me, that was the ultimate confirmation that I made the right decision in keeping Pedri at Barcelona,” explained the former Barca coach.
Ronald Koeman remembers when Pedri arrived at Barcelona
The Dutch coach recalled the way Pedri arrived at Barcelona, where he valued himself for having asked the young midfielder to stay at the club.
“I was the first Barcelona coach to meet Pedri,” he recalled. “I didn’t know who he was. Barcelona signed him from Las Palmas and then they wanted to loan him out. That was the plan. But after two days of training, I saw an absolutely incredible player, but above all, I saw Lionel Messi constantly trying to connect with him.”
The rest of the story is known. Messi ended up leaving the club, but Pedri established himself as the star he is and that credit cannot be taken away from Koeman.
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