Junior: You don't have to go back to my tweets, the dressing room have welcomed me very well Barcelona He insulted Messi on social media in the past

New Barcelona signing Junior Firpo has insisted that his teammates offered him a warm welcome upon his arrival from Real Betis, despite some offensive tweets he published back in 2012.

The 22-year-old left-back had insulted Lionel Messi through some comments on Twitter, but he has claimed that this is something that belongs in the past.

"I am very happy with the reception the dressing room have given me," he said.

"I think it is something that you do when you are young.

"I already responded to that at the time and I don't think we have to go back to it."

Several teams across Europe were interested in signing Junior, but he decided to join the reigning LaLiga Santander champions.

"It is true that I had different options," he added.

"I was given the options I had and when a club like Barcelona comes to you, it is a train that passes once in a lifetime.

"When I was notified of the signing, I was able to celebrate it with a meal with my family.

"We were happy and eager for what is to come."

Barcelona face Napoli on Thursday in the early hours in a game that could see the Spain Under-21 international make his unofficial debut with the Blaugrana.

"This first hours are frenetic," Junior noted.

"Tomorrow there is a game and I really want to play with my teammates.

"They are great players who will surely make everything much easier for me."