Miralem Pjanic revealed that he was happy at Juventus and that Barcelona had tried to purchase him long before he moved to the Catalan club from Serie A in 2020.
The 31-year-old spent four seasons at the Bianconeri before he was involved in a swap deal, of sorts, with Brazilian midfielder Artur.
“I was very happy at Juve, an extraordinary club, but Barca spent two years trying to sign me and it wasn’t possible,” Pjanic told MARCA in a remarkable interview.
“There was another opportunity, they took it, and I was very happy, normal, I was going to a club that all children dream of playing for.”
Pjanic’s time at Barcelona did not go according to plan and he did not have a great relationship with Blaugrana coach Ronald Koeman.
“I would have preferred him to tell me things directly, but that’s the way it is,” the Bosnian said.
“It was a very strange way of communicating, it’s the first time I’ve experienced it. I don’t know what happened. He disrespected me.”
The 31-year-old was linked with a return to Juventus but the Bianconeri could not complete a deal and he eventually moved to Besiktas on a loan deal.
“It’s true, there were many things, the situation of those teams meant that it was not easy,” Pjanic said.
“Until I got that call, I was focused on training and preparation, but it was very difficult.”
