Emmanuel Petit: At Barca I lost my passion for football
The former French midfielder spoke about how things didn't go to plan in Catalonia
Emmanuel Petit does not have a good memory of his time at FC Barcelona. The midfielder, also of Arsenal and the French national team, landed in 2000 in the Catalan capital but did not live up to the hype. Twenty years on, he has spoken to Ladbrooks about it.
Petit was signed, along with Overmars, after Barcelona lost Luis Figo to Real Madrid. “I arrived in a strange moment regarding Barcelona’s dynamic,” said Petit. “There were a lot of fights between players and I didn’t feel good, really I don’t appreciate my time there.”
During the 2000-01 season the World Cup winner played 38 games for the club. Despite that, he didn’t really fit in.
“If I don’t remember wrong, I played most games as a third defender. But it was not only what was happening on the pitch, but off it too. There were fights in the dressing room between players and they made it hard to get out of this downwards spiral and get results.”
He asked to leave the club after that. “I felt I was losing my passion for football and I only wanted to leave. It was the first time that I was at a club and did not complete my contract. I signed a four year deal but after six months I went to the president and told him to put me on the transfer list.”
Petit joined Chelsea for 11 million euros in the summer of 2001 and ended his career at Stamford Bridge.
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