[ad_1]
Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed that the Spanish giants have ‘repeatedly lied’ to club legend Lionel Messi.
The Argentine superstar wanted to leave the club in the summer and, although he stayed at Camp Nou, speculation continues about the 33-year-old’s future at the club.
Messi will be able to negotiate a pre-contract deal with any suitor when the January transfer window opens, and his current contract at the club expires in the summer.
Laporta, who was previously president of the club from 2003 to 2010, told ESPN: ‘You need to see that there is a competitive team to rekindle the love affair Barça had with the Champions League but which has been stagnant in recent years. .
‘[The club] I have lied to him repeatedly and, furthermore, things have not turned out the way everyone wanted. You are at a point in your career where you still want to succeed and win titles.
“It cannot continue to accept that other teams win the Champions League and Barça, with Lionel, the best player in the history of the game, does not have a team competitive enough to win it.”
Laporta hopes to return to the club after having announced his candidacy for the next presidential elections to be held in January.
Messi had been highly critical of the club’s former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and held him responsible for blocking his departure from the club in the summer.
However, Laporte believes he could be the man to ensure that Messi extends his days at the Catalan club, having already earned his full ‘confidence’ during his first spell at the club.
He said: ‘I don’t see Messi wearing a shirt that isn’t Barça,’ he said. ‘The story between him and the club is so beautiful that the incoming president is obliged to make sure it continues. I don’t see him playing for any other club. I see him with the Barça shirt.
In addition to turning the club’s financial situation around, the priority is to make a proposal to Lionel that convinces him to stay. I hope to arrive on time. And I have an advantage: Messi’s confidence.
He knows that the offer I make will be real and I will honor it. I think that will help a lot and is an advantage over the rest of the candidates. ‘
Clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly ready to pounce on Messi’s signing when allowed to speak to him when the market reopens.
Another man seeking Barcelona’s bid, Emili Rousaud, said Lionel Messi’s current salary “is not affordable” given the club’s financial state.
However, he is convinced that the club must find a solution to keep him at Camp Nou, but believes that they may have to reduce his salary to help balance the books.
Rousaud told the Spanish newspaper AS: “We cannot just cut everywhere, and that’s it because we would become small and we have to think big.
‘The future [of the club] it is in their hands, but at the moment Leo’s salary is not affordable.
‘Messi is a winner and if he goes he will not be paid more. Leo Messi is the player who has given Barça the most in its history and what Messi has given is not quantifiable.
“We will not talk to the player until we are in power, but in this bid is the one who brought him to Barcelona, José María Minguella.”
Reports from the Deloitte Money League 2020 showed that Barcelona had been ranked as the highest-earning club in European football before the pandemic.
However, the Spanish giants are now over £ 700 million in debt and boast a massive £ 1 billion a year wage bill.
Messi is contributing significantly to his financial woes by earning roughly £ 500,000 a week from Barca.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
[ad_2]
