BARCEPHONEA
Traore reveals how his mum hung up on Catalan giants... but luckily they called back and invited him training!
LIKE many of us getting a phone call from an unknown number, Fatoumata Traore gave it short shrift.
Having just returned from holiday, she wasn’t in the mood. But in the end curiosity got the better of her. That was one of her better decisions. Her son, Wolves’ flying winger Adama Traore, takes up the story.
He said: “We had been to Mali to see my family for the first time. My mum didn’t take her phone because people from work would have been calling her all the time.
“When we got back we noticed a lot of missed calls from the same number. It rang again. That same number. It was Barcelona. They were on the phone asking about me going training with them.
“My mum said, ‘You’re joking’ and put the phone down. They had to call back again and convince her it was true.”
What a good job she believed them. Or else it would have robbed her son, then aged eight, of a footballing education like no other.
Rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and Xavi (right) on a daily basis.
Not just greats of the modern era – but of any era.
Traore said: “That was amazing. Being with the likes of Neymar, Messi, Alexis Sanchez – but Xavi was the one. He was a very good captain. He used to speak about his life. He had been in the same position as us, so he knew. “He would help with advice on girlfriends and women because it’s a difficult life. If you go to eat or go to some places – people don’t understand you need time with your wife, family or children, and people will jump on you. “People will say, ‘Please can I have a photo?’ or ‘I want a photo’. And you have to know how to treat them. “Even now, my Wolves team-mates ask me about Messi, Neymar. But they are confused. They think all these players don’t work. “They think they have talent and that’s it – God giving them the gift. “But that is not true. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, they work all the time, and they work so hard after training. “They’ll be the last ones out there. They take care of a lot of things, their diet, eating, sleeping. They’re totally dedicated, and that’s why they are there. “You can’t be there 10 years in the top level by doing nothing. That’s impossible.” While Traore he has not yet made the breakthrough totally in the league – this FA Cup tie should give him an opportunity to shine. He added: “Last season my agent told me I had options to move away. I said, ‘No, I want to stay. I want to prove to everyone how good I am’.”