Fermín López: 'I'm different from Xavi and Iniesta'
The Barcelona midfielder discusses his goal-scoring instincts, his idols Iniesta and Messi, and his regret over never sharing a pitch with either.
Fermín López rejects comparisons to Barcelona’s midfield legends. In a cover interview with GQ Hype, the 23-year-old said he is "a bit different from Xavi and Andrés Iniesta", calling both "incomparable" before explaining what sets his own game apart.
"I'm always closer to the box, I like to play directly forward, I'm always looking for the goal. I've always had a good relationship with scoring goals and this year I'm enjoying it even more", he said.
Iniesta and Lionel Messi remain his two footballing idols. He never played with either.
"I haven't been able to play with Andrés and I never will because he's retired, but I would have loved to, obviously. And as for Messi, I've got a niggling regret about the match we could have played in Qatar, which didn't happen. I would have loved to share the pitch with Leo Messi", he said.
Fermín also spoke about walking into Barcelona's first-team dressing room after arriving from Linares, describing a changing room that included Ter Stegen and Lewandowski as a different world to what he had known, and his withdrawal from Spain’s World Cup squad through injury.
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