Dmitro Chygrynskiy has recalled his time at Barcelona and admits that he struggled to deal with the demands of playing under such a heavy transfer fee.
With just two appearances in his one year playing for Pep Guardiola's side, he has since moved to Ukrainian sides Shakhtar Donetsk and Dnipro before he landed a transfer to Greek outfit Athens AEK in 2016.
"The 25 million euros that were paid for me put great pressure on me, it was not my real value," he told Cadena Ser.
During the 2009/10 season when the defender was at Camp Nou, Guardiola's men won the LaLiga title and bowed out of the Champions League in the semi-final to Inter, 3-2 on aggregate.
However, Chygrynskiy was amazed by the talents the head coach had at his disposal.
"It was another world, I was surprised by the level of players like [Lionel] Messi or Zlatan [Ibrahimovic]," he added. "I was part of that team that was so impressive."
The Ukrainian only played in two LaLiga matches, making his debut 4-1 win over Athletic Club and his last in the 3-1 victory against Xerez and he remains astonished as to how quickly the Camp Nou crowd can turn.
"I was surprised by how the Camp Nou treated me. I could not understand how the same fans that encouraged me five minutes ago were now the ones shouting at me," explained Chygrynskiy.
Guardiola bought the centre-back to Barcelona in the summer of 2009 and he still has contact with the Spaniard.
"I'm still in touch with him, the last time he called me was to ask me about Douglas Costa," he added.
Asked on who the better player regarding the Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo argument, Chygrynskiy opted for the man he spent a year training with.
"Cristiano is a good scorer, but he is not the best in the world because he is selfish; Messi is different, he always thinks of the team," he said.
RBrocks
64
you don't deserve comment on CR7 he is pure gold of talent.
Ogbogai70
55
Thanks for standing baby the truth. Messi is the best.
RM18
50
A PLAYER CAN BE SELFISH FOR HIS HUNGER OF SCORING BUT THAT DOSENT MAKE HIM THE WORST PLAYER AND BY THE WAY CR7 LATAST RECORD IS MOST ASSIST IN REAL MADRID HISTORY OVERTAKING RAUL . SO
Altair
38
Chyrgynsky is talking like an ignorant fool who reads Twitter comments for football knowledge. Rinaldo has the most assists in Madrid history, if that's selfish then hell I'm happy he's one.
Wangnao_Wangnaolim
30
this is somehow true
iyanuoluwapoBabatola
28
Epl fans are the best. Spanish fans demand more from their player and that makes most player lose their best form trying to satisfy their fans ✌✌✌✌✌
chasesunny
22
he might be selfish on the pitch because he wants to win or should i say he's a winner but in real life Cristiano Ronaldo alvaro dos Santos is a good man,he's a man any man would like to emulate and thank you for making this headline one of the best in the world you retard rejected barca dropout!
realEddy
19
Ronaldo :Haha,hey bro,can you believe the crap this guy just said? he thinks I'm selfish,God,I can't even pronounce his name! Madridista :Ha ha ,Me either! Its really a load of crap Ronaldo, this guy just gave me a good laugh,I think he's supposed to be a comedian,not a footballer !