Eric Abidal opens up on Barcelona departure in open letter

Barcelona parted company with Eric Abidal, with the retired French defender explaining his side of things in an open letter directed towards fans.

Camp Nou is a terrifying place to be if you work there. The 2019/20 season has been contentious to say the least. Two coaches have gone. Lionel Messi is unhappy and wants to leave. Ronald Koeman is the third manager in eight months.

These are the headlines. Some details missing from the above summary. Real Madrid are La Liga champions. Barcelona were mauled by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Eric Abidal has resigned from his role as Technical Director.

Abidal had quietly tendered his resignation and it was accepted by Josep Maria Bartomeu. The French defender did not openly said goodbye to the fans and players. He has done so now through an open letter on his Instagram.

The 40-year-old shared that he tried to make changes at Camp Nou but failed in his pursuit. This is why after receiving vote of confidence from the board he resigned on his own terms.

View this post on Instagram

Benvolguts/des Barcelonistes, Vull aprofitar aquestes línies per acomiadar-me de tots vosaltres. Ho faig des de l’agraïment mes profund per haver pogut compartir dues etapes importants de la meva vida. Una com a jugador i un altre com a responsable de la Secretaria Tècnica del FC Barcelona. Aquest segon comiat contempla 2 anys en els que he intentat treballar per fer un Barça millor. Dues temporades intenses que he Donat de finalitzades per decisió pròpia. Malgrat que la Junta Directiva hem va ratificar dilluns en el meu càrrec, dimarts passat vaig presentar la meva dimissió. En els darrers dos anys he intentat ralitzar canvis que creia molt importants per al futur del primer equip. Malgrat el meu convenciment i la meva insistència no ho he aconseguit. Es per això que crec que ha arribat el moment de possar punt i final a la meva vinculació amb el club. Vull deixar constància de que he renunciat a l’any de contracte que encara tenia amb el FCBarcelona. Avui la situació del club es complicada, però no tingueu cap dubte de que desitjo de tot cor que es pugui superar i que els èxits tornin aviat tal i com es mereix aquest gran club. Gràcies eternes a tots. Visca el Barça i Visca Catalunya. Eric Abidal

A post shared by E.Abidal Official (@abi22ericabidal) on Aug 20, 2020 at 4:01am PDT

“Over the last two years, I tried to make changes that I thought were very important for the first team,” Abidal explained.

“But, despite my conviction and persistence, I failed. This second goodbye brings to a close two years where I tried to work to make Barcelona better.

“Two intense seasons which I decided to bring to an end on my own accord.

“Whilst the board gave me a vote of confidence on Monday, I provided my resignation on Tuesday, waiving the rights to the final year of my contract with Barcelona.

“The moment has come to draw a line under the link between me and the club.

“Right now the club’s situation is complicated, but be in no doubt that I hope with all my heart that it will recover and that success soon returns just as this great club deserves.”