Cesc Fabregas is another who has admitted his surprise at seeing Mesut Ozil sold by Real Madrid this summer.
The final day of the transfer window saw Los Blancos ship the German out to Arsenal in a €45m deal and it has attracted comment from a number of players in the game, including now one of his Clasico counterparts.
“I was very surprised by Ozil’s departure,” Fabregas has told Cadena Cope this week.
“He was the second best player at Real Madrid after Cristiano.
“I feel I identified with him as we have a very similar style of play and at Arsenal he will be great.”
Fabregas is on international duty with Spain this week and was asked his view on the debate surrounding Iker Casillas’ place for club and country.
“In football there are few injustices and what is done by the Coach is done because it is the best for the team, no-one will be selected just because they are liked.”
The midfielder was the subject of more than one approach from Manchester United this summer, but has stayed put and has enjoyed a positive start to the season for Barca.
“The most difficult challenges are the ones that I like and Barcelona has been the most complicated and so if I can retire here then all the better.
“In my head is only to succeed here at Barcelona. When I arrived here I knew that there were other places where I could have earned more or where I could have played more minutes, but to come to Barca was my dream.
“I actually earned more at Arsenal. I would not leave for even double the money.
“Work under Tata Martino? He knows what the style of Barca is and that we cannot lose it, whilst we are trying to recover some mechanisms that were lost in our game.”
El Confidencial has alleged recently that Lionel Messi belittles teammates in training, particularly picking on Alexis Sanchez and Cristian Tello.
“A player does not become what Messi has without genius, because you need that on the pitch. He is very polite, very quiet, very humble and then he has the genius to become a winner.”
