Sergiño Dest has been in conversation with PSV TV looks back on Lionel Messi’s farewell to FC Barcelona. The employment of the Catalans club icon came to an end in 2021. Dest was under contract with Barcelona at the time and witnessed Messi’s farewell speech live in the audience. Dest stood out because of his striking outfit, which attracted a lot of comments online. That doesn’t really bother the 23-year-old Almeerder himself.
Presenter Maddy Janssen gives a start and asks whether the Barcelona players liked basketball. “They did. Everyone on the team did that. We had a basketball hoop in the gym locker room.” Janssen asks whether that is why Dest was wearing a basketball outfit when he said goodbye to Messi. “Everyone says that, but it wasn’t a basketball uniform,” Dest laughs. “It really looks like a basketball uniform, but it was actually a… It was a different brand, but it wasn’t a basketball.”
“Everyone didn’t think it was appropriate,” Dest laughs. Most of those in the room were dressed smartly for Messi’s farewell. Dest was not, which made him quickly stand out. Dest therefore went viral on social media. Journalist Alex López revealed a year later that Dest had planned to go to the beach and was not fully aware of Messi’s farewell. When the club did get hold of Dest, the American international had no time to change.
Sergiño Dest (far right) applauds Lionel Messi.
“I also laughed at the comments,” says Dest. “I don’t get hit or anything, I thought it was funny too. I didn’t know it (farewell, ed.) would be so big. Of course you should know that, because it is such a big player, but I thought : we do it somewhere in the locker room. With the team. And then suddenly… He (Messi, ed) had to laugh about it. Everyone thought it was funny. Sure, it might not have been appropriate, but I really don’t care about those comments. I actually just had to do it again with Aguero.” The striker announced his retirement six months after Messi’s departure.
Dest states that of all the players he has played with, Messi has impressed him the most. “I want to think about it, but it will be difficult. The way he saw passes. Even if you pass him a difficult ball, he always controls it well. Sometimes he gives those passes that make you think: how do you see that? That’s a good thing he has. That is why he has won all those Ballon d’Ors (eight times, ed.).”
Dest ultimately played 72 matches for Barcelona, in which the attacking defender scored three goals and four assists. However, his period in LaLiga was not an unqualified success. Under Xavi, Ronald Koeman’s successor, Dest did not have to count on much playing time. Last season he was therefore rented out to AC Milan, with the Italians negotiating an option to purchase.
However, things did not go smoothly in Milan either. Spread over 14 matches, Dest played 632 minutes. Trainer Stefano Pioli did not see Dest as a permanent fixture in the starting line-up and so he returned to Barcelona. PSV struck last summer and he is still doing excellently in Eindhoven. Dest has been assured of a starting place in the left back position in recent weeks. PSV can permanently take over Dest from Barcelona after this season for a reported ten million euros, where he will be fixed until mid-2025.
PLAYER HOME ?? Sergiño Dest on Lionel Messi’s farewell ????
— PSV (@PSV) November 15, 2023