LEo Messi’s time at Barcelona ended several years ago, but to this day there are testimonies from the Argentine’s former team-mates, or in this case his former coaches, who have seen first-hand what the number 10 was like on the pitch.
Ronald Koeman has had an erratic period at Barcelona and is not remembered very well by fans. Despite the bad memories, the coach spoke to ESPN and revealed a strange preference Messi had for one of his teammates.
Koeman reveals who was Messi’s ‘favourite’ at Barcelona
Ronald Koeman is one of the coaches who had the privilege of coaching Lionel Messi at Barcelona. Although the Dutchman didn’t do well, he still stopped and recalled a moment he had with the Spanish club.
In an interview with ESPN, Koeman explained the peculiarity of Leo Messi, who, in the words of the Dutchman, “only gave the ball to talented players”.
Messi simply passed the ball to Pedri. And believe me, if Messi doesn’t value you, he won’t pass you the ball during practice, he’ll just ignore you
“I watched their connection grow. For me, it was the final confirmation that the decision to leave Pedri at Barcelona was the right one,” explained the former Barça coach.
Ronald Koeman recalls Pedri’s arrival at Barcelona
The Dutch manager recalled when Pedri arrived at Barcelona and praised himself for asking the young midfielder to stay at the club.
“I was the first Barcelona manager to meet Pedri,” he recalled. “I didn’t know who he was. Barcelona wanted to sign him from Las Palmas and then loan him out. That was the plan. But after two days of training, I saw a really great player and, above all, I saw Lionel Messi constantly trying to connect with him.”
The rest of the story is known. Messi eventually left the club, but Pedri has established himself as a star and that credit cannot be taken away from Koeman.
