Gregory van der Wiel was one of football’s most important full backs of the last decade. The Dutch international, who played the 2010 World Cup, reaching the final, played for Ajax, PSG, Fenerbahçe, Cagliari and Toronto, completing an outstanding career. Howevet, he never fulfilled his dream; playing for Barça. In a recent interview with Blaugranagram’s partner, Flashscore, he discusses his desire to play for Barcelona, among other topics, such as his mental health issues.
Van der Wiel rejected Bayern Munich, when former Barça boss Louis Van Gaal was in charge, “I didn’t have direct conversations with Louis van Gaal, but I knew they wanted me before the World Cup. I chose not to pursue the move for reasons that, looking back, weren’t very strong. I just wasn’t interested in living or playing in Germany based on very little actual knowledge. I was young and stubborn.”
However, his rejection to the possibility of joining the German giants came, partly, for his dream to play for Barcelona, “”saying no to a club like Bayern Munich is obviously something you can question later. But at the time, Barcelona had also shown interest. They were my dream club, and Dani Alves was my idol. Knowing I was close to Barca made me feel like the world was at my feet, so I said no to Germany.”
His dream was never fulfilled, but he did move to PSG shortly afterwards, “going to PSG and playing next to even bigger stars was incredible. Sometimes it’s hard to fully realise it in the moment, but looking back, being a teammate with those guys was a privilege.”
In Paris, Van der Wiel played with superstars such as former Barça striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whom he mentions among his best teammates, a list where one can surprisingly find also a La Masia graduate, Thiago Motta, “playing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for four years was amazing. Then you add Di Maria, Thiago Silva, Verratti, Thiago Motta, Pastore, Cavani, Lavezzi. With the national team: Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. There are just too many to name.”
