Sad Barca Goodbye for Claudio Bravo Against Betis but Ter Stegen Is the Future

Luis Enrique was genuinely upset. You could see it in his face and how his throat caught when he tried to answer the question he had been posed.

Said question concerned Claudio Bravo. Asked by journalist Pete Jenson what memories of the goalkeeper he would take with him and how integral the Chilean stopper was to the club’s consecutive La Liga triumphs, the coach choked.

“That’s a good question,” he said, as he infrequently does, usually at enquiries that allow him to talk about what he wants to, rather than those that are trying to get to the bottom of club issues. But this time it genuinely was a good question and one which caught a chink in his armour.

After thinking about it, he responded.

“I will answer that question when the facts change. I think the club will speak about this subject today [Saturday] and I will speak about it when the facts change. That’s if they do.”

It was a matter of seconds before they did. No sooner had the Asturian vacated his chair in the Ricard Maxenchs press room and headed off into the warm Barcelona night air after his team’s 6-2 destruction of Real Betis, than sporting director Robert Fernandez broke the news we had been expecting for days and had pondered for months.

Stories in the Catalan media had persisted for months, saying new Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola was interested in bringing one of Barcelona’s two goalkeepers to the Etihad.

He wasn’t keen on Joe Hart’s style, preferring a goalkeeper that fits his philosophy of possession, i.e. someone who can play as a sweeper-keeper and is good with their feet.

Bravo, who has played that role for Barcelona successfully, to the extent that they have won the league in both his seasons here, as well as the Club World Cup in which he played, became the primary target as it became increasingly clear that the club were not going to let Marc-Andre ter Stegen depart.

Fernandez spoke to TV3 and the club’s own television channel. He said:

We have an agreement in principle with Manchester City for Claudio Bravo. We are waiting for events this week. We will open the door for Claudio when we sign another goalkeeper. We were talking about his contract renewal when City’s offer arrived and the player told us that he wanted to think well about …

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