Jeffren Suarez could not hide his delight after penning a new deal at Barcelona and explained that he turned down numerous offers to stay with 'the best club in the world'.
The 22-year-old winger has signed a contract which is set to keep him at Camp Nou until 2012 and insists he never considered leaving the reigning European champions.
The Spain U21 international accepts that he is still learning his trade and is prepared to bide his time in his quest for regular first-team football.
"When I signed the contract I felt like a first division player and a member of the first-team squad," he explained.
"Now I am ready for all the challenges that lie ahead.
Offers"I did have offers, that is true. But the money is all the same to me because I know I am at the best club in the world and although I may not play regularly I know I will learn so much from the stars here."
Barcelona have an injury crisis to contend with in defence ahead of Sunday's meeting with Atletico Madrid, as Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Dani Alves, Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure are all sidelined while Gerard Pique cannot play and Carles Puyol is battling to shrug off a knock.
Coach Pep Guardiola is considering his options and reports have suggested that Jeffren could be asked to play at right-back again, as he did earlier in the season in the Copa del Rey.
"The coach asked me if I could play there," he explained.
"For a moment I did not think he was serious, but then I saw the chance to play and I agreed I could.
Challenge
"He asked me and so I did the best I could. I remember that I became tired very quickly and that affected me a bit, but I did all I could.
"If the coach asks me to play as a full-back then I will. It will be a challenge but I have faith in myself."
Despite the number of absentees for the game at Vicente Calderon, Jeffren is confident that Barca can come away with all three points and throw down the gauntlet to the title-chasing pack.
"We will be able to cope with them as we have a great squad," he added.
"We have a lot of players out and to win would send a message to the teams near us who are hoping we stumble."
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