“I left Barça because they didn’t give me the opportunity”.
That’s the headline of the interview Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo have managed with Middlesbrough winger Adama Traoré.
The player left Barcelona in 2015, in a €10m transfer which moved him to Aston Villa. Speaking of his debut season in the Premier League, he recalled: “It was not the season I wished at all. I started well, but I had two injuries that slowed me down. The club was also at a difficult time with several managers in a year. But it was my first impact on professional football and I realised that it is tough, that not everything is like Barça.”
After only one season at the club, Traoré ended up signing for Boro. He was brought by Spanish manager Aitor Karanka who he has a good relationship with.
“He helped me tactically because he knew he came from a different football, used to be more focused in attacking than in defending. At the beginning, during my adaptation, he received me individually to teach myself and correct the things I needed to improve in order to play in the team.”
Traoré also claimed that the adaptation to a team full of Spaniards (Victor Valdés, Álvaro Negredo, Antonio Barragan) wasn’t very difficult.
“It helps to integrate, it was much easier. But it’s true that at Aston Villa I learned a lot of English because there was no Spaniards there. I had to wake up and learn fast. The experience served me in this aspect.”
Mundo Deportivo obviously questioned the player to comment especially on Victor Valdes’ life at Middlesbrough. Traoré said: “I knew him from before, from when I was promoted to the first team at Barca and we already had a good relationship. I see him as a great, adapted and wrapped by the technical staff. He feels important and on a football level he’s playing very well, recovering his great level after the serious injury he had in the knee.”
Adama Traoré has 12 Premier League appearances for Boro, but is still to score or make an assist for the club.
