Former Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit has claimed that moving to the Nou Camp was one of his worst career moves. The former French star's wounds suffered from his time with the Catalan club has not clearly not healed as he dished the dirt in his new autobiography under a chapter called "Barcelona, my bad fortune."
Following his switch from Arsenal in 2000, Petit commented that his stint went downhill right from the time he signed on the dotted line.
"The only regret I have in life is that I left Arsenal for Barcelona. In England I earned €150,000-per-month (US$211,000) so I asked Gaspart for double that and after some doubts he agreed in the end," Petit explained.
"All went well until I arrived when I was met by some directors who were very smooth talking. They were like carpet salesman.
"They talked about it and I threatened to return to my hotel unless we arrived at an agreement and at 4am they finally accepted my demands.
"I joined the squad later than others, during a trip to Holland, and I arrived in time to play in a game. When I turned up most of them did not pay me any attention or greet me.
"In a short space of time I discovered that there were three cliques; the Catalans, the Dutch and the rest. There was no unity.
"The day I arrived the coach asked Richard Dutruel, the other French player in the squad, to translate for me. He asked me, visibly ashamed, not to laugh but the coach wanted to know where I played. I could not believe it.
"I thought it was a joke, but that was when I realized that I had been signed to help the political ambitions of Gaspart who wanted to be the president.
"The coach was a clown and completely incompetent. I had never seen a head as bald as his."
Petit also had to incur the wrath of his own Barca team mates after the press put words into his mouth.
"We lost to Besiktas and played terribly. On the plane on the way home the Catalan journalists asked me if it was because we lacked character and I nodded my head," he continued.
"The next day the press had headlines which claimed I had said the team lacked guts. The squad were not happy and Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Sergio and Abelardo took me to one side and told me it was not on.
"From that moment I was outcast, I became the unapproachable one and nobody would speak to me."
Petit has suffered personal anguish during his spell in Barcelona after the club refused to grant him permission to take a few days off following his father's death.
"I asked the coaching staff to let me go and they said no and I felt very bad about that. I was ready to just walk out then. I thought I was going hit someone.
"I had to install a punchbag in my garage to stop myself from turning violent at the club."
"I had no luck and I joined the club at the worst time when it was in complete decline and ruled by groups within the squad. I used to cry about having to go into training, but not through sadness, but just nerves."
Petit only stayed at Barcelona one season and returned to London in 2001 where he joined Chelsea and spent three seasons at Stamford Bridge.
by espnstar.com
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