KEVIN PRINCE BOATENG has revealed that he had to lie about his feelings in order to play for Barcelona.
The retired midfielder starred for the LaLiga giants on loan in 2019 – despite being a boyhood Real Madrid fan.
Boateng, 38, joined Barcelona on a temporary deal from Sassuolo and made four appearances for the club.
However, the move came despite the former Ghana international having a preference for Los Blancos and his hero Cristiano Ronaldo.
Boateng has now revealed that Barca chiefs briefed him ahead of his first press conference after joining.
He insisted that he was told not to talk about the club’s historic rivals and Ronaldo.
TURBO
Win a stunning VW Tiguan + £5,000 or £35,000 cash from just 12p with our code
CRIS CROSS
Major update on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi strike after he refused to play
Instead, he was told that he had to say Barcelona were his favourite club and that Lionel Messi was the best in the world.
Speaking on Unscripted by Josh Mansour, Boateng admitted that as a result, he lied to the press when asked about his favourites.
He said: “I always said I wanted to play for Real Madrid.
“I had to lie in a press conference because prior to that two years before, when I played in Las Palmas.
“They asked me who my favourite player was and I said Cristiano Ronaldo and I said my favourite team was Real Madrid.
“Signing for Barcelona, they said to me ‘your favourite team is Barcelona and the best player in the world is Lionel Messi’.
“They said ‘you have to otherwise you can’t play here it is impossible’.
“I sat there in the press conference and the first question was who was the best player in the world and I said ‘Lionel Messi’.”
Boateng’s spell at Barcelona was only brief as they did not decide to pursue a permanent move after his loan ended.
He retired from playing in 2023, having gone on to have spells with multiple clubs across Europe.
He played for the likes of Tottenham, Portsmouth, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Monza, Eintracht Frankfurt, Herta Berlin and Schalke 04.
Read the full article here