‘Hasn’t been what I would’ve liked’ – Barcelona midfielder acknowledges having subpar season

Last season was a stain for Barcelona on many levels, primarily because they failed to add any silverware to their trophy cabinet while eternal rivals Real Madrid secured domestic and European success.

Although several reasons blemished Barcelona’s campaign, a severe contributor to their demise in all competitions was the absence of a natural holding midfielder.

Barça attempted to opt for stopgap solutions like deploying Andreas Christensen at the base of midfield and revamping the team’s structure.

However, ultimately, Oriol Romeu’s inability to fill Sergio Busquets’ big shoes had significant repercussions.

Romeu opens up about his struggles

The La Masia graduate, who joined from Girona for a fee of €3.4 million, endured an underwhelming campaign and is anticipated to be hitting the exit door this summer.

Now, on the 3Cat program ‘L’eclipsi’ (h/t Mundo Deportivo), Romeu has touched upon his time at Barcelona and if he would reverse his decision to join the club.

Not the best of homecomings from Oriol Romeu (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“Seeing how Girona’s season has gone and seeing how yours has gone on a personal level with Barça, has the change been worth it? Would you do it again?” he was asked.

Despite how things panned out, the veteran midfielder revealed he would still choose to represent the Blaugrana colours.

“It’s a question that I have asked myself for quite a few days and at quite a few moments.”

“The possibility of coming to Barça came to me at a time when I was very good in terms of form, with the possibility of being an important player and, probably, I would have made the same decision,” Romeu replied.

Additionally, Romeu professed that physically he could not meet his desired expectations and also lacked the mental fortitude to respond to setbacks.

Upon reflection, the 32-year-old claims that he may have overemphasized the importance of certain things.

“I think the physical aspect has not been the one I would have liked during the season and I have not reacted as well as I would have liked mentally to the setbacks or bad performances.

“I think about it, regardless of whether things are going well or badly, but perhaps I have overplayed a little bit the importance that things had,” he claimed.

Romeu is one of few first-team players who is likely to be available at the disposal of new coach Hansi Flick, as he looks to kickstart Barcelona’s pre-season campaign on July 10.