Espanyol star confirms he turned down offer from Barcelona | OneFootball

Espanyol star Omar El Hilali has this week revealed that he previously rebuffed the advances of the club’s arch rivals, in Barcelona.

Defender El Hilali, for his part, has enjoyed something of a breakout campaign to date.

From his role at right-back, the youngster, in fact, has established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet of boss Manolo González, featuring from the off in all but one of Espanyol’s La Liga outings.

And yet, as alluded to above, had things played out just a little differently, such excellence could well have been on show in the colours of one of Spanish football’s leading clubs.

Speaking in an interview with Diario AS, as cited by Mundo Deportivo, this week, El Hilali revealed that, during his days as a youth player, he turned down the advances of Barcelona in favour of Espanyol:

“I had the opportunity to choose between Barça and Espanyol, and I opted for Espanyol because I felt that it had to be that way, and my family also believed that it was the best for me, it was the sporting project that I wanted. And I think I made the right choice, because now I am living a dream.”

Conor Laird – GSFN