Dumped by Barcelona! Braithwaite reflects on his release
FT Desk
- 7 Oct 2022 18:56 BST
- 3 min read
This time last season, Martin Braithwaite was Barcelona's richest player. Now, he's turning out for Espanyol having been freed by the Catalan giants.
Braithwaite wasn't Barca's best-paid player - at least not by the club - but he was the wealthiest owing to his real-estate interests in New York.
But the Camp Nou club were nonetheless desperate to get the Dane's wages off the books as they looked to emerge from what was once a €1.35 billion debt at the club - one that effectively cost them the continued employment of their greatest ever player, Lionel Messi.
Martin Braithwaite booed by Barcelona fans 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/jgd5nG4pdd
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 9, 2022
While Barca found buyers for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Philippe Coutinho this summer - Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively - they couldn't command a transfer fee for Braithwaite, and they negotiated the termination of his contract before he signed for Espanyol.
The 31-year-old forward has hit the ground running at Barca's crosstown rivals, with a two goals and an assist in four games since making the move, and he holds no ill will.
Braithwaite: 'only positives'
"I think it was clear that after my injury I wasn't going to play," he said of the knee injury which required surgery last September. "And I didn't need anyone to come and tell me.
"It was just a kind of natural deal where I knew I had to go through what my options were. The truth is that when I look back I can only remember good times and positive things, like the number of good people I've met.
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"I can only say positive things about my time at Barcelona."
Barca had been granted an emergency exception to sign Braithwaite from Leganes for €18m in February 2020 after a long-term injury to Ousmane Dembele.
But the writing was on the wall for the Dane when the club paid €50m for Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski this summer - the Pole now up to 12 goals from his 10 games.
