Leeds United star reveals former manager claimed that he was ‘contaminating the group’

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Junior Firpo has revealed what former manager Ronald Koeman said to him during his time at Barcelona.

Firpo signed for Leeds from Barcelona for a reported £12.8 million in 2021 after he failed to nail down a spot at his dream club.

In an interview with Spanish outlet Sport, the 27-year-old shed some light on his time at the Catalan club and how it did not work out as he had hoped.

After impressing at Real Betis, Firpo was scooped up by Barcelona in 2019 with the club viewing him as a potential long-term successor to Jordi Alba.

But he failed to live up to the club’s expectations and after a disappointing two years, made the move to Elland Road.

Junior Firpo in action for Leeds

The Dominican Republic star revealed that Koeman, Barcelona’s manager at the time, gave him a particularly harsh answer when he asked about his game time.

“I had several games in which I played well, but I didn’t have continuity.” He told Sport via BESOCCER.

“At first I was looking for explanations for this low participation, but Koeman gave me an answer in which he was not being honest: he told me that I was contaminating the group, so I stopped trying.”

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