Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has admitted that he still harbours regrets about not joining Spanish giants Barcelona last summer.
The Argentinian scrapper held talks with Barca over a transfer directly before the start of last season and has now confessed to The Liverpool Echo that, after the move failed to materialise, the distraction of the protracted negotiations left him struggling to find his form;
“The situation with Barcelona really affected me, It was a shame it didn’t happen as [Barcelona] was the city where I wanted to live.
There were many discussions and problems during that month-and-a-half. They were difficult times for me. One day I was off to Barcelona, the next I wasn’t, and Liverpool said I was non-transferable.
Psychologically, it affected me as I couldn’t think in Liverpool and I was focused on other stuff and not on my work – my training and playing.
Also, we were having problems with Argentina as our qualification to the World Cup was in danger. There was a lot of complicated stuff at that time.”
The 25-year-old scrapper then went on to insist that he is happy with life in England, but hinted that he (or at least his wife) would still welcome a move from Merseyside to Catalonia;
“I have no problem living in Liverpool, but my wife and daughters deserve to enjoy every day to the full and live their lives, but they have to be home all day.
My wife doesn’t speak a word of English so she depends 100 per cent on me. I live here with them. That’s my world, that’s my life.”
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