"I should have listened to Barca and stayed in La Liga..."

Alen Halilovic joined Barca in 2014 from Dinamo Zagreb and it was always clear to him that it was the perfect team for him. "Barca, because of their style of having so much possession, was the only club where I saw that I could make a big leap as a footballer and as a person. Besides, Spanish football suited my qualities very well. I didn't want to go to Germany or England, which are more physical leagues", explained the player in an interview with 'Marca'.

"Barcelona had a good plan for me. The first year I played in the second division with the reserve team to adapt, get to know the language... and I trained with the first team. The second year I went out on loan to Sporting, who had a good relationship with Barca because of 'Pitu' Abelardo," he recalled.

After a good season with the Asturian side, Halilovic made the decision to leave the 'Cules' even though the club had other plans for him: "I should have listened and stayed on loan in La Liga.... However, I felt I was ready to play in Barcelona's first team and decided to leave. If I could change anything in my career, it would be to have stayed in Spain," he regretted ruefully.

Halilovic, who has been dubbed by many as the 'new Modric' or the 'Messi of the Balkans', explained that such tags for such a young player end up weighing too heavily: "At first, you like to be spoken well of and compared to such good players, but at the same time, they expect a lot from you and, at that age, you suffer a bit. 

"I wanted to show that I could play like Modric or Messi, but football doesn't work like that. I would advise 16 or 17-year-olds who experience something similar to that to focus on enjoying themselves and being themselves," he said by way of advice to the thousands of youngsters who are in the same situation he was in years ago.

He is currently at German club Fortuna Sittard, but admits that he still aspires to return to La Liga. "If you ask me where I want to go, I would say Spain. Many of my best seasons were there. Now, with more experience and a better command of the language, I think I could perform well," he concluded.