Luis Enrique is not a fan of the pre-season tours the club has arranged in the United States, and he had no shame on telling so. During the press conference held by the team after their arrival, the former midfielder referred to the absence of Lionel Messi, who will not be appearing with Los Culés during their matches held in American soil.
"I'd rather not be touring. There are more inconvenients during these trips than positive things. About Leo, Messi's season seems to be endless, he needs some time off. Messi is not in the U.S. because I believe he needs to take some vacations and I will not change my decision even with this tour underway," the coach stated.
With the team making new additions, which will not be able to perform until January, the coach specifically referred to Arda Turan's situation. Although he believes the former Atletico Madrid player will be key for the team's success, Luis Enrique denied the team is thinking about loaning the Turkish footballer in this summer transfer window.
"Obviously, we are not happy with not having him play for the next six months, but there's nothing we can do about it. I want the player to remain with the team, get used to his team-mates and such, and loaning him is out of the question, we have never discussed such a scenario,"the coach added.
Los Culés will be playing against Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday, in what will be their first game of the ongoing pre-season.
