Back in 2014, Barcelona signed Alen Halilovic from Dinamo Zagreb. The then 18-year-old was very highly-rated in Croatia, and there had been many comparisons with Luka Modric, who was and still is at Real Madrid.
However, as it turned out, Halilovic failed to come anywhere near close to reaching Modric’s level during his time in Catalonia. He spent his first season at the club playing for Barcelona B, only making a handful of substitute appearances for the first team. A loan move to Sporting Gijon followed the next season, although he failed to impress there.
In the summer of 2016, Barcelona sold Halilovic to Hamburg. The Croatian has now opened up on that move to The Athletic (via Marca), as well as his time at the Catalan giants.
“The first two years were perfect at Barcelona, but I was hoping to get a chance in the first team in the third. Then I realised that Luis Enrique didn’t see me there. I was supposed to stay another year because I was doing so well, but Barcelona decided I had to go out on loan again, so I was a bit frustrated with everything. I didn’t want to go out again, so I said, ‘F*** it, I’m out of here’.
“When you’re young, you think you don’t have time and I had to be ahead of Iniesta and Xavi. Looking now, I just needed to be patient.”
Halilovic’s story will serve as good advice for youngsters hoping to make it big at clubs like Barcelona. He had hoped to make it big there, but as it turned out, it wasn’t to be.
