Sports

Barcelona: What Koeman told Messi after returning to first training

Published

4 years ago

September 8, 2020

New Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman, on Monday told captain, Lionel Messi, how happy he is that his star player will be staying at the club beyond this summer.

Messi finally returned to the club’s pre-season training for the first time ahead of the 2020/21 season on Monday..

The 33-year-old, who now wants to reintegrate himself into the team following his failed attempt to leave Barcelona this summer, was seen driving into the Ciutat Esportiva in Sant Joan Despi at just after 4:00 pm on Monday evening.

According to Mundo Deportivo, before the training session, Koeman took Messi aside for a quick chat, their first since the Barca No. 10 wanted to leave Camp Nou.

Koeman told Messi that he only wants players who are committed to Barcelona, adding that he will treat him as a “special” player, though he will not receive the special treatment he was afforded under previous managers.

He also promised Messi that he would do his best to make the Blaugrana one of Europe’s most feared teams again.

Messi trained alongside Philippe Coutinho in Monday’s session, building up their fitness.

Barcelona will continue their training session on Tuesday ahead of their 2020/21 La Liga opener against Gimnastic on Saturday