For the past few weeks, we’ve been covering several stories about Claudio Bravo’s controversial return to the Chilean national team.
The Manchester City goalkeeper’s arguments with teammates left him out of the squad for almost two years, and in his return for a friendly this month, he’s obviously lost his captaincy.
As reported by the Chilean media at the time, manager Reinaldo Rueda had offered Charles Aránguiz the armband, but the midfielder rejected it.
Now Aránguiz has spoken to Canal del Fútbol, and had a very open chat about everything that is going on with Bravo’s return to the team.
“There is talk of shyness, of fear… It makes me laugh that those things are said. Fear? Afraid of what? To put a tape on my arm? If I did it, it was out of respect for Claudio,” he said (via La Tercera).
“They raised me in another way. Claudio was there and I didn’t want to accept the captaincy out of respect for him.”
“Everything that has happened is weird. The atmosphere is weird. Every mistake has consequences. It’s hard to look at Claudio as we looked before.
“Sure with more time things are solved. It’s been two years and there’s been a lot of s*** been said.
“Claudio has to be prepared to solve this. Errors bring consequences. In this case, from someone who’s not him (it was the Manchester City player’s wife who had criticised other Chile players)… Today, our captain is Gary (Medel). But when we’re all together and Claudio feels it’s time, we have to talk. If not, we will continue waiting for him to feel comfortable.
“Hopefully all this will be solved soon. For me, I insist, our captain is Gary. Claudio didn’t know how to fix the issue soon or in the best way. But that doesn’t take away the respect we have for him.”
Despite not wearing an armband, Claudio Bravo still claimed to be a leader within the squad, saying he still has huge influence over the players on the pitch.
Those quotes didn’t go down very well with the players, with the Chilean media reporting that the Manchester City goalkeeper is considered to be ‘arrogant’ among teammates.
