Personal motives stalls Junior Firpo’s exit from Barcelona

The Barcelona left-back has been seldom used by manager Ronald Koeman.

Junior Firpo has not shown the potential Barcelona saw in him when they signed him from Real Betis nor has he really been given many opportunities to do so.

Brought in to challenge Jordi Alba at the left-back position, Firpo has been firmly relegated to being the second choice. It was that way under Ernesto Valverde and it is that way now under Ronald Koeman.

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A move away from the club has been on the table for a while now including being part of a trade last season with Inter Milan for striker Lautaro Martinez.

While Firpo would like to play more, it seems that a change in his life may cause him to have second thoughts and stay at Barcelona even if it means a lack of playing time.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Firpo may decide to stay because he recently became a father for the second time. He and his wife had a baby in December and does not believe it is the right moment to leave for a new team in another country.

He had been strongly linked with a loan move to Serie A leaders, AC Milan.

In fact, there were also reports an agreement with the Catalans and AC Milan was close.

The Italian giants appear to be the team that is most heavily interested in signing Firpo but nothing is official yet. Given the club’s lack of depth in that position, Koeman may want him to stay for squad depth.

Recently, he has also been used as the emergency right-back in a couple of matches so he’s added some versatility to his game. In any case, it seems the club are also going to take into consideration his personal reasons in deciding whether to accept an offer or not.