"My failed move to Barca? Abidal called me and apologised"

Cedric Bakambu impressed at Villarreal scoring 45 goals between 2015 and 2018. The Congolese striker left Spain and played for Olympique Marseille, Beijing Sinobo Guoan and now plays for Olympiacos. Although he was close to joining Barcelona in 2020.

In an interview with 'Relevo', the striker spoke about his team and his frustrated move to FC Barcelona: "Life is calm, my family feels good, Athens is a beautiful city, the club is great. It's a great club and I'm very proud to wear their colours.

"When Barca contacted me, I wasn't the first choice, that has to be said. Time passed and at the end of the transfer window the option became more and more feasible. We are talking about a loan with an option to buy. Indeed, I took a flight to Spain, but I arrived at my stopover and my agent told me that the transfer would not happen in the end, so I turned around and went back to join my team," he explained.

He added: "Eric Abidal called me and explained everything to me and apologised for the way things had been done. I was surprised that he called me and I thought it was very classy of him. There are talks between my representatives and certain La Liga clubs. Nothing concrete at the moment, so I prefer not to mention them".