Fortuna Sittard midfielder Alen Halilovic admits he chose Barcelona over Tottenham ten years ago.

Halilovic joined Barca as an 18 year-old from Dinamo Zagreb, but struggled to make it with the Spanish giants.

He recalled to the Athletic: "Tottenham wanted to buy me, but Barcelona was closer to my style: I loved having the ball at my feet. The first year I would have played for Barça B, then they would have loaned me to a Primera Division team and the third year they would have let me play in the first team.

"In my second year I went on loan to Sporting Gijon and then I expected to have a chance in the first team. But Luis Enrique didn't see me and Barça decided that I had to go out on loan again. At that point, however, I was a little nervous, frustrated and decided to leave."

"Looking at the situation now, I just had to be patient, train and wait. I learned a lot by training with the first team and I was able to play with (Lionel) Messi, who was my idol. He is an alien but who really surprised me was (Sergi) Busquets: he is the best player I have ever trained with.

"Now I'm 27 years old, I can play another ten years and show that I can do it at a high level."