Quique Setien Hails 'Outstanding' Martin Braithwaite Debut & Makes Lionel Messi Admission
Quique Setien praised the 'outstanding' Martin Braithwaite after the Catalan giant's new signing made his Barcelona debut in the 5-0 thrashing of Eibar.
Having been awarded special dispensation to sign a forward outside of the transfer window due to injuries to Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez, Barça completed the controversial signing of the Danish striker from Leganes for a fee of £18m earlier this week.
You've already seen all the banter, but here's what you need to know about Barca's new signinghttps://t.co/3YoUry909l
— 90min (@90min_Football) February 22, 2020
With 18 minutes remaining of the club's clash with La Liga strugglers Eibar, Braithwaite came on for Antoine Griezmann and was involved in the build up to both Messi and Arthur's late goals in a solid debut for La Blaugrana.
Speaking after the match, Setien praised the acquisition of Braithwaite and his contribution at Camp Nou, insisting the Dane is a 'good' signing for the club and will benefit the side moving forward.
"He played well and we all feel that his signing is a good one," he said, via AS. "He'll help the team greatly and is a strong and bright player. He made a fine debut and performed admirably".
Unfortunately for Braithwaite, his debut wasn't the main talking point from Saturday as instead, Messi ran the show with an outstanding display, netting four goals to end a four-match goalless streak.
Setien reserved special praise for the six-time Ballon d'Or winner, claiming that any coach in the world would be lucky to have him as he is a 'guarantee' wherever he plays, while also addressing he improvements his side need to make.
4 - Eibar are the only team that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has scored four goals in two different games in all competitions. Poker@FCBarcelona #Barcelona #Messi pic.twitter.com/B6crE0Labk
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 22, 2020
"He's been in this form for 14 or 15 years and he's keep performing like this," he added. "He's a guarantee for any club and for any coach and that's what makes him the best player in the world. He can do things like today that others dream about.
"The team is aware of things as they are but I'd like to feel today was a major step forward performance-wise. We have room to improve and we're far from tired and I see the team strong mentally too".
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