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Ibrahim Afellay, who defends his honor, will not leave his current team, said the player's interests representative Rob Janssen to the Dutch media on Monday.
According to the football player's agent, this summer several strong clubs were indeed interested in his client, but the constant rumors in the media about a possible departure of Afellay are "greatly exaggerated."
"I think many people take the information about a possible sale or loan of Afellay too seriously. Leave 'Barca'? No, that is not the solution to the problem. Ibrahim feels great in Catalonia and does not hide his ambitions," said Janssen.
"I admit that several strong teams were interested in him, but I just don't see any reasons why Afellay should leave. Can it be guaranteed one hundred percent that he will really stay in 'Barca'? There are never guarantees in football, but this time it doesn't seem likely that everything can change drastically," emphasized the agent from Holland.
The Spanish sports media continues to speculate whether Afellay, who suffered a severe cruciate ligament injury and has not played for a long time, will be able to establish himself in the strong 'Barca' squad. It has been constantly claimed that the player could be loaned out, included in a swap deal, or sold to some Italian or English team.
According to unofficial sources, the services of Afellay were reportedly of interest to London's 'Arsenal', Turin's 'Juventus', and Milan's 'Inter'.
Afellay, who actively played in pre-season matches, as newspapers report, does not hide his desire to prove his worth even after journalists reported about his meeting with Barcelona's head coach Tito Vilanova. It was speculated that during this conversation, the player was informed that he was not guaranteed a permanent place in the starting eleven, and his playing time on the field would be limited. However, Barcelona representatives did not confirm this information.
At the end of July, Vilanova announced that Afellay would start the season with his current team.
