The defender will leave the club at the end of the season.
Barcelona defender Eric Abidal has bid an emotional goodbye to his club of six years as he announces he will leave the Catalans in the summer.
Abidal has been a footballing story of triumph against adversity, after being diagnosed with a liver tumour in 2011.
The Frenchman underwent an operation in March of the same year before returning just two months later to lift the Champions League trophy with Barca, after the Spanish giants beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Wembley final.
However, the left-back still had to have a liver transplant in April 2012 with Abidal having part of the organ donated to him by his cousin.
Yet despite such major surgery the 33-year-old battled against the odds and returned to the field for Barca 12 months after his transplant, replacing Gerard Pique in a 5-0 win over Real Mallorca on April 6.
The France international then played his first 90 minutes since his operation two weeks later when the Catalonia club beat Levante at the Nou Camp.
Now in the twilight years of his career Barca decided not to keep Abidal on as a player, but despite an emotional reaction from the defender there were no hard feelings and the former-Lyon player reveals he would love to come back.
“I would have liked to have stayed and played on but the club saw it differently and I have to respect their decision,” the left-back was quoted on BBC Sport.
“I’m leaving but I’ll definitely be back. I have played here for six years and it’s been the biggest experience of my life.”
Abidal joined Barcelona in the summer of 2007 for £13.2m, going on to win 15 trophies with the club including four league titles and two Champions Leagues.
After winning the 2012/13 La Liga title the left-back and manager Tito Vilanova – who also battled this year with throat cancer – were honoured by lifting the trophy together.
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