The Frenchman exposes the Catalans in a less than positive light.
Barcelona will be recoiling after former star Eric Abidal has revealed that the Spanish champions didn’t pay the defender when the left-back was battling liver cancer.
Abidal left the Nou Camp after six years at the club this summer, moving to newly rich AS Monaco and has since spoken out against the Catalans.
The 33-year-old was out of action for the best part of a year, after undergoing surgery to rectify liver problems that the France international had developed.
Yet whilst Barca gave Abidal a huge presentation at the end of the 2012/13 season, the Frenchman has now admitted the full-back was bemused by those actions taken by a club not supporting the player.
“What was difficult to understand was the speech made at my final Barcelona press conference. By affirming it was a personal choice [to leave], that put doubt in the minds of other clubs,” the Monaco man told L’Equipe.
“It had nothing to do with money. The proof: all the months I was ill, the club didn’t pay me.”
This are astonishing revelations from Abidal could cripple Barca’s image if true, as the stance at the club was that the Catalonia outfit were in full support of the defender.
The La Liga champions are proud of an image of a family club and high morals – with the side sporting a UNICEF logo on their shirts in 2011/12 – yet what the left-back is announcing completely undermines those attitudes.
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