“Xavi did not believe in my abilities,” Martin Braithwaite on his departure from FC Barcelona and joining RCD Espanyol

 
Espanyol striker Martin Braithwaite has hit the ground running immediately after joining from FC Barcelona this summer. However in a recent interaction about the club he has hit out at current coach Xavi claiming that the Spaniard did not even believe in his abilities when he came as the manager at Camp Nou. The Denmark international has also told the club to be more mindful about players’ mental health next time sharing his own harsh experiences as they simply wanted to ship him away to free up funds.

The Blaaugrana wanted Braithwaite to terminate and leave as a free agent as Xavi did not want him in his team. But the Danish striker did not agree as he was hell bent on receiving two years salary in full which was remaining in his contract. Therefore, Xavi left him out of the matchday squad for the first three La Liga matches in the new season.

However keeping his future in mind Braithwaite joined Espanyol after terminating his deal with Barcelona. He signed a three year contract with Espanyol and is finally concentrating on football again rather than getting jumbled up with contracts.

“Did I take it as bullying, I actually don’t know,” Braithwaite shared. “But I think it’s important that you always think about other people’s mental health. That’s the way it is. I know how things work in this world. Unfortunately, football is also a business.”

Braithwaite had a short and sweet stay at Barcelona and helped them dearly during his stay here as the club went through a lot of issues off the field. Braithwaite was not highly thought of by anyone at the club. But he scored crucial goals and proved his doubters wrong. “In many ways, I can only smile a little at all the things that have taken place behind the scenes. I think I have disproved many critics. I was top scorer last season before I got injured,” he added.

“But then there was a change of coach, he wanted something else, and that is part of football life. Xavi didn’t believe in my abilities, so I had to leave. I had known for a long time that the coach did not believe in me and that I had to move on from Barcelona,” Braithwaite shared.

The Danish striker played in 58 matches across two seasons and scored 10 goals and assists five time across all competitions. It was a decent enough statistic for a reserve striker who suffered a lot of injury problems during his time aswell.

But now after moving out from Camp nou, Braithwaite has started with a bang scoring two goals from three games in the La Liga, gradually becoming a force upfront for his new team. But overall Espnayol are relegation contenders as they are 17th in the standings with only one win from six matches. It will depend a lot of Braithwaite to earn a few points by scoring goals and helping his side win matches as they need to avoid relegation somehow.