Abidal becomes Barcelona ambassador

Eric Abidal has been appointed an ambassador at Barcelona, the club where he played for six seasons.

Abidal, who won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2011 despite undergoing surgery to remove a tumour on his liver two months earlier, rejoined the club on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old made 193 official appearances for Barcelona, winning four LaLiga titles in his time at Camp Nou, but the Frenchman played down his status at the club.

“It’s a joy to return to officially form part of the club,” Abidal told Barca TV. “We had been talking for a while and now today it’s gone through. As ambassador I am going to represent the club in the best possible way in other countries.

“It will always be a pleasure to share moments with the club’s former players and, above all, to transmit the message and values we have around the world – but I am not a legend.

“It’s true my story marked a lot of people at the club, above all on a football level, but also on a personal level because of my illness.”

@EAbidalOfficial , new ambassador of FC Barcelona https://t.co/kHaLkgweQu #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/XjlmZ9DO1r

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 14, 2017

After leaving Barcelona in 2013, the former France international went on to play for Monaco and Olympiacos before announcing his retirement from the game.

Abidal follows Ronaldinho in returning to Barcelona to take up an ambassadorial role at the club after the Brazilian’s appointment was confirmed in February.

Éric Abidal has come back home and as FC Barcelona ambassador he’ll help us to promote the club’s values around the world pic.twitter.com/CkrgwbdzTh

— Josep Maria Bartomeu (@jmbartomeu) June 14, 2017