New Tottenham signing Emerson Royal has admitted he was “hurt” by his exit from Barcelona and one day wants to return to the Camp Nou.
Emerson played just three games at Barca after the club signed him outright this summer following a co-ownership deal with Real Betis, for whom he excelled for two-and-a-half seasons.
Due to the Catalan club’s well documented financial problems, they were forced into unwanted exits in the closing stages of the transfer window - with Antoine Greizmann and Ilaix Moriba also leaving the club.
Spurs completed the signing of Emerson on transfer deadline day for an initial fee of £25.7million and he is now likely to be their first-choice right-back this campaign.
The Brazil international has now been critical of how he was treated by Barca, who he believes misled him having ‘fallen in love’ with the club during his youth.
Emerson told an interview with Marca : “To play for the club was my dream since I was a child.
“I wanted to come and feel what it is like to play for Barcelona. It was my dream.
“I started to fall in love with Barça when I was watching Ronaldinho play. Then came Messi, Neymar, Alves…”
Emerson went on to say that he was hurt by how the club treated him and believed that his situation could have been handled differently and with more transparency.
He continued: “Do I feel used? Used is not the word, but the manner of it did hurt me. They could have been done differently. There were better ways to fix things.
“When I arrived I was sure that Barcelona did not want to sell me, but seeing what happened I am clear that when they signed me they already had the idea of selling me in mind.
“My family were stunned, as was I when they told me. We had been in Barcelona for a short time, barely 40 days and we were still putting things in their place.
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“I got home and told everyone the truth, what had happened to me and that my decision was to leave. I would be going to Tottenham and succeeding there. And they supported me.
“The Barca fans have always given me a lot of affection through messages, when I went out in public, during games.
“They told me that I was going to triumph and that I would be the new right-back of Barca.
“In the stadium in the first game I felt affection when I went out to play and I also felt affection for them. It hurts me to go out like this because I knew that in my best form I could bring a lot of joy to the fans.
“I leave with the feeling that one day I will return to give that joy to the fans.”
Emerson made 79 appearances in all competitions for Betis, scoring five goals and providing 10 assists.
He played more minutes than any other Betis player last season as Manuel Pellegrini's side finished sixth in La Liga to qualify for the Europa League.
Emerson has represented Brazil at Under-20 and Under-23 level before winning his first senior cap in November 2019.
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