Former Barcelona striker Carles Perez has hit out at the club over his controversial departure from the Camp Nou in January.
Perez was loaned out by Quique Setien to Serie A club AS Roma during the 2019-20 winter transfer window, with Paulo Fonseca’s side now set to activate their €11m purchase option on him.
Despite stating he is enjoying life in the Italian capital, the 22-year old was left frustrated by the manner of his exit from Catalonia.
“I do not understand why I left. Maybe the club needed money, but I do not know the reason,” he told an interview with EFE, reports via Marca.
“I do not think I deserved to leave. Since I was an academy player, I had offers to leave Barcelona. But I always said no because I wanted to play in the first team.
“However, this is now in the past, and I am happy at Roma.”
Perez has played a back up role behind Edin Dzeko, Cengiz Under and Justin Kluivert in the 2019-20 Serie A campaign, with 14 Serie A appearances.
His first goal for the club came in AS Roma’s 1-0 Europa League last 32 win over Gent, which helped secure their passage into the next round.
Fonseca’s side now face Sevilla, in a restructured one leg tie to complete the remaining rounds of this season’s competition, in the German city of Duisburg on August 6.
