Sergino Dest is proud to have played alongside Lionel Messi, but the USMNT ace has revealed when the Argentine lost his “feeling of fun” at Barcelona.
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- American defender joined Blaugrana in 2020
- Spent one season alongside all-time great
- Messi left for PSG before ending up in Miami
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WHAT HAPPENED?
As a product of the famed La Masia academy, and a record-shattering club legend in Catalunya, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was expected to spend his entire playing career at Camp Nou. That dream died, though, when forced to leave for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in 2021.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Messi was a 10-time La Liga title winner by that point, with four Champions League crowns to his name, and bowed out on the back of a seventh Copa del Rey triumph. Tears flowed when bidding farewell to Barca, but Dest says the South American GOAT had stopped playing with a smile by that time.
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WHAT DEST SAID
United States international Dest, who joined Barca in 2020, has told of the greatest team-mate that he has worked alongside: “Messi, of course. You see him on YouTube, in video games… and suddenly he's there, in front of you. There was a good atmosphere in the dressing room the first year, he made jokes… then that changed and that feeling of fun was lost a bit.”
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DID YOU KNOW?
Dest has now severed ties with Barcelona himself, with a permanent move to PSV completed on the back of a productive loan spell. The 23-year-old defender added when asked if he would like to return to Spanish football at some stage: “Yes! I hope so. I am very happy and very grateful at PSV, but I am ambitious and of course I would like to play in one of the five major leagues in Europe again. I think I have the level for it and with hard work and consistency I think I can achieve it, without a doubt. I don't know what will happen, but I would like to return to La Liga in the future.”
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