Barcelona flop Junior Firpo claims Ronald Koeman accused him of 'contaminating' Camp Nou dressing room as he reveals social media 'threats' following nightmare debut

Firpo arrived in Catalunya as an apparent back-up to Jordi Alba. However, he never found his footing for Barca, struggling for minutes, and experiencing difficulties on and off the pitch during a turbulent two-year spell. Firpo detailed the difficulties of playing for one of Europe's biggest clubs in an interview with SPORT.

The full-back admitted his Barca career got off to a poor start, when he was removed from the game at half-time of his full debut: "Starting like this, with a mistake in my first game as a starter... and on top of that the coach took me off at half-time. That makes you start off on a very bad foot and with criticism. As much as I didn't try to read them, nowadays everything reaches you, especially with social networks. After that game I had thousands of comments and insults, thousands of private messages and threats."

After his first season, Firpo had a good option to go to Inter, but spurned it due to his newborn son's health problems: "My second child was born with lung problems and I made the decision to stay in Barcelona. The medical services were very good and I did not want to make a move between countries after such a complicated time entering and leaving the hospital.

"I slept in the hospital, I went to train and returned to the hospital. My son Jasson was in the ICU and only one of my wife and I could go visit him for about 5 or 10 minutes two or three times a day."

After agreeing to stay at the club, Firpo clashed with new boss Koeman, who forced him out of the side: "Koeman gave me an answer in which he was not being honest: he told me that I was contaminating the group, so I stopped trying."

Firpo did eventually leave Barca, opting to join Leeds, where he has been in and out of the line-up. He made 19 starts in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season - a rare bright spot for Jesse Marsch's side as they narrowly avoided relegation.

Still only 27, Firpo will look to break into the Leeds XI once again. He has made three appearances in the Championship this season, with the Whites firmly in a playoff position four months into the season.