Yerry Mina opens up about his future with Barcelona, as rumours continue to swirl over a possible move to Everton.
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Colombia defender Yerry Mina described his "difficult moments" at Barcelona and told reporters on Thursday that he's hoping to one day join a team where there is less pressure.
The towering centre-back moved to the Camp Nou from Palmeiras for a fee of €11.8 million in January but played in just five La Liga matches last season and often didn't even make the bench for manager Ernesto Valverde's side.
"When I saw that I wasn't even on the bench, that I wasn't even being considered, I started to train alone at home. It is tough to watch your teammates and see the matches on TV, it was a difficult moment that I don't wish on any player," Mina said in Bogota during a news conference on Thursday.
"There were very difficult moments that were very sad for me because I was really not doing well. There were moments when I thought everything was going to turn out as I had imagined, but it wasn't like that. I felt moments everything came crashing down upon me, I felt that nothing was going right, I couldn't even pass the ball right, or train, I just felt like nothing went right."
Mina said he was also depressed at the start of the World Cup because he wasn't named to start in Colombia's opening match against Japan.
"I was nervous in the first game because I had not played at all, absolutely nothing. I had no minutes," said Mina, who was considered one of South America's best defenders during his time in Brazil.
"To go there [to Russia] and wait and then to have things not turn out, it is so hard. But God gave me the opportunity to move forward and show what I am made of."
Mina started Colombia's remaining three matches in Russia and ended the tournament as his country's top scorer with three goals.
Regarding his future, Mina said he's hoping to join a team that can give him minutes on the field.
"I want to play for a team where there is less pressure and where I can have minutes," he said.
However, he also said that it had been his dream to get to Barcelona. He added that now he will enjoy his vacation and try to make the best decision regarding his future.
"I will always try to do my best for me, for my club and I hope that wherever I end up, whether it is at Barcelona or whether I have to leave, I will do it in the best way, but for the moment I am happy at Barcelona."
Mina applauded the decision by Barcelona to sign French defender Clemente Lenglet, who joined the club from Sevilla on Thursday.
He said: "He is going to Barcelona because of his level of play and because he deserves it. Based on what we have seen of him, he is a player who can be at a big club. All that is left is to meet him, learn from him and wish him the best in the world."
Mina was in Bogota to sign a new sponsorship deal with Fiat in Colombia.
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Source: espn.co.uk