04.07.2008 17:12
Marc Guillén
Three of Barça’s new signings will find themselves with ex teammates when they step into the changing room for the first time. Keita and Alves both played for Seville, while Piqué played with Milito at Zaragoza and with Messi in Barça’s youth squad.
One of the important points in the adjustment of a player with a new team is the relationship
with his colleagues. Before the league begins you can never be sure if the players will get on with
each other, but if they already know someone in the dressing room you can be sure it will be more
positive. This is the case of Keita, Alves and Piqué.
Milito and Piqué, understanding on and off the pitch
Gerard Piqué played for Real Zaragoza in 2006/07 and had Gaby Milito as
a teammate. “We became good friends at Zaragoza. We shared a room and got on really well. As
a person he’s wonderful”, said Piqué of Milito.
As well as getting on well off the pitch, Piqué learned a lot as a defender from the
Argentinean. That season Gerard was only 19 and explains that on more than one occasion playing
next to Milito helped him grow as a player. Of the 22 games the Catalan played for Zaragoza,
eighteen of them were alongside Milito.
Keita and Alves, a joint trip
The midfielder from Mali came to Spanish football last season after
playing eight seasons in France. At Seville, Keita shared the dressing room with a “very
funny and happy” Dani Alves, the player himself explained.
They were both regulars in the Seville line-up and gave the team a lot of character. Keita is
a player who is characterised as hard working and with a constant effort, but, even then, he was
amazed at Alves’s winning attitude: “I was impressed with Alves’s mentality,
he’s a winner and does what it takes to win.