?Barcelona defender Junior Firpo has rejected claims he picked up a hand injury while go-karting, insisting it was simply an accident during training.
The 23-year-old was seen wearing a bandage over his thumb during his last appearance against Eibar, which is no big deal. However, the real juice of this drama came after reports emerged in Spain that he had suffered the issue while go-karting, which is one of several activities which are prohibited at Barcelona.
Given he was then benched for El Clásico, social media was awash with rumours that he was being disciplined for breaking club rules, but Firpo took to ?Twitter to dismiss the stories.
“I wanted to explain that the slight injury that I had on my left hand was made in the training of Thursday before the match against Eibar in ?Barcelona’s training complex,” Firpo said. “Any other version does not fit reality.
“There are no erosions or abrasions, just a bad fall in a training like other times. I think there are too many topics to talk about in the world of sports to invent such a thing.”
If that’s not enough for you, ?Marca also reported that Barcelona have contested the story as well, so it seems like there’s not a lot to this one.
Firpo may have been dropped to face ?Real Madrid, but it’s almost certainly because he’s just not as good at football as Jordi Alba, who was making his return from a hamstring injury. Case closed.
The frustration from this whole incident is a good reflection of Firpo’s first season at Camp Nou. The Spaniard has managed just 16 appearances in all competitions, with injuries and poor performances holding him back.
He recently told ?Barça TV that he was happy with his first few months at the club, although he accepted that he can do ‘much better’.
“As much as it was a similar style, playing at Barça is another level,” he added. “You have to win by playing well. The pressure is much more different than at Betis.”
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