The agent of departed Barcelona starlet Andrea Natali has on Friday placed the blame for his decision to move on squarely on the shoulders of the Blaugrana.
The name of defender Natali has positioned itself front and centre in the chatter behind the scenes in Catalunya’s capital over the course of recent days.
As much comes after the Italian, held in altogether high regard across the continent, opted to bring a close to his time on the books of Barcelona.
The 16-year-old has linked up with Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, expected to be afforded a chance to impress at senior level by boss Xabi Alonso next season.
Just why, though, did Natali come to the decision to seek out pastures new?
An insight into as much has today been provided, by none other than the young stopper’s representative.
Speaking in an interview with Diario Sport, Vincenzo Raiola, cousin of the late Mino Raiola, opened up on the topic, pointing towards a number of factors, and shortcomings on Barcelona’s part, as decisive:
“Almost a year ago we told Barça that our priority was to continue. Our idea was that Andrea could participate in the reserve team next season. But that was never the club’s will. It was strange and difficult to understand what the sporting project for Andrea was. It was not clear if it was Juvenil ‘A’, if it was Barça Atlètic…
“The economic part also seemed insufficient to us and very, very far from what many teams in Europe later proposed to us. They had a different vision of what it could be and Andrea was already in the eyes of very important clubs.
“When I sent our last proposal, Toni Hernández took more than three weeks to respond. For us, this was already significant. In fact, it was I who contacted him again and not him. He told me that they trusted Andrea but that this proposal was their maximum, that from there they would not move either sportingly or economically.”
Raiola even went as far as to suggest that the style of play in Catalunya was perhaps holding Natali back:
“Andrea needed a new step, another football in which he goes deeper into issues or concepts that at Barça have been somewhat limited as a result of the rigidity that comes with the famous question of style. Andrea needs to know a more modern football, have a knowledge of football, 360 degrees, not just of the famous ‘tiki taka’.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
