Former Barcelona forward explains decision to leave this summer – ‘I needed to play and grow’ | OneFootball

Pau Victor is one of many young Barcelona players who have decided to move on and continue his progress elsewhere.

The young forward, who struggled for game time last season, joined SC Braga in a deal worth €12 million.

In a recent interview with Jijantes, Victor explained his decision to leave Barcelona this summer while also talking about his former manager, Hansi Flick.

Pau Victor on leaving Barcelona

Victor’s departure came on the back of immense pressure over his diminishing role at the club, especially after Barcelona got hold of Marcus Rashford.

With no real hopes of making a breakthrough in the team this season, Victor revealed that it was time for him to move on.

“The year was incredible for everyone, but I needed to play and grow, and after talking with the coach, the best thing was to leave,” he said.

Pau Victor struggled for game time at Barcelona. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Victor went on to list out two of his favourite moments from last season, where he could not even muster 500 minutes of action.

“I have two moments: one is when we won the Copa del Rey because we won and I was able to play, and the other is the preseason because that’s when I said I could play here,” he said.

Victor, though, has no resentment towards Barcelona or Hansi Flick for the lack of game time. In fact, he hailed the coach for being attentive to everyone.

“It’s not easy to manage the team with so many matches because you focus on the 11 or 12 who play, but Hansi was very attentive to us. He was like a father to us; he told me he would be keeping an eye on Braga,” he concluded.

Since joining Braga, Victor has already netted two goals for his new club, one of which has come in the Europa League qualifying round against Lincoln FC.