What does FC Barcelona mean to you?

It’s my life. Since I was a kid, that has been the case. I would always watch the games with my family, and my father instilled it in me as a kid. I watched games at the supporters’ club and always wanted them to win, and now I can enjoy it from the inside. I’m living everything I dreamt of, and right now, it’s everything to me. 

You arrived here from Las Palmas, but you play as if you grew up at La Masia. How is that?

Partly because I watched so many Barça games from a very young age. Football in the Canary Islands is about quality, enjoying having the ball, so it’s similar to Barça’s football. By watching so many matches on TV, watching videos of Andrés [Iniesta] or Xavi, lots of things stick with you. You try to copy them, you try to practise it, but it’s tough to be at that level. So, you try to improve every day so that, one day, you can do what they did. I would often watch Iniesta videos. He was my idol, and I would try to copy what he did in a specific play, how he protected the ball. 

Your position is similar to Xavi’s, but your style is more like Iniesta’s these days. Would you agree?

Yes, my position in midfield has changed a little bit. I play a bit further back, so I get on the ball a bit more and can replicate the days when Barcelona had a lot of possession with Xavi and Iniesta. They had so much possession and got on the ball a lot in midfield. When you have a player with quality and when you enjoy yourself, everything works out. Everything flows, to put it one way, and I’m playing my best football at the moment. Iniesta’s level was incredible, and I hope to reach that level one day.

You play the same way whether you are under pressure or not, whether playing for Barcelona or Spain.

I’ve always wanted to try to do something when there is pressure. You often think your opponent is right on top of you, but you have an extra second. It might not feel like it, but you have time to turn, play it back to the defence, and that’s important when you’re being pressed. When a central midfielder is pressed by the opposition and calls for the ball, they can make a play and help their team-mates, and this is key for a possession-based game plan.

When you draw the opposition players in, do your ankles suffer?

Yes. They do sometimes take a beating, but it’s often better to take a knock on your ankle and your team keeps the ball than lose possession and not wanting the ball and hiding behind the opposition.

You seem to control time and space on the pitch. Is that a good summary?

That’s what I try to do in a match. We have a lot of attackers in the team, so they always want to push forward. Sometimes, it’s better to slow the game down, get our foot on the ball and keep it, because lots of turnovers are not good for us as a team. It’s better to slow it down, calm down and attack in a precise way when the team is ready. That’s how we can do most damage.

Hansi Flick is strict, but he’s also a kind of father figure. Is that fair?

Yes. It’s a young squad and he is a father in the way that he always tries to look after us. He is there for you if you’re not playing. He always tries to help you. Besides being strict, the side of him that you don’t see from outside is that he always tries to help you when you’re playing badly. He speaks to you, asks what’s wrong. He tries to be this father role that you mentioned. It’s great because when it’s time to train, he’s strict, and when it comes to talking, he’s also calm.

What was it like to rejoin the squad after your injury and to have to learn Barça’s new high defensive line?

It was hard to adapt, especially when I was watching it from the outside during pre-season and they were implementing it. It worked out from the start, so that calmed me down a little, but it was a bit like… not fear, because I knew that if we were doing it, there was a reason, but just to see how I would adapt. For example, the first time I played, when you’re out on the pitch, you look back and say, “There’s a lot of space behind!” But, from the very start, the team has done it really well, and when it works it gives you much more confidence. Everyone trusts the boss, everyone knows what he’s trying to say. I’ve started studying English too, to understand him even more, and that’s important. The good thing is that the team receives that message, and it shows. Despite the language, he’s managed to convey [his vision] perfectly.