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MADRID (Reuters) – Barcelona interim president Carlos Tusquets believes the club should have cashed in on Lionel Messi during the summer transfer window.
Messi was strongly linked to a move to Manchester City and sent a registered delivery letter (Burofax) indicating his intention to leave. He later said that the decision was due to being disillusioned with the direction the now former executive had taken for the club.
Former Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned in October before facing a vote of no confidence, and Tusquets will take over temporarily until the January elections.
“Economically speaking, he would have sold Messi in the summer window,” Tusquets told RAC1 radio station.
“Both in terms of what you save on the salary bill and the money you make, it would have been desirable. But this is something the coaching staff has to accept and that is not my place.
“The League is setting salary caps right now and this would have helped on that front.”
Messi’s current contract expires in June, when he is expected to leave for free and on Wednesday former Barça teammate Neymar spoke of his desire to reconnect with the Argentine.
“What I want most is to play with Messi again, to be able to enjoy him again on the pitch,” he said after his club PSG’s 3-1 victory in the Champions League against Manchester United.
“I want to play with him next year, for sure. We have to do it next season.”
Tusquets admitted that a scenario is unlikely to occur at Camp Nou, where the threads of the pocket have been tightened after the COVID-19 crisis.
“If he (Neymar) was available on a free transfer, maybe we could think about signing him,” he said.
“Without sales, there is no money for new signings unless the new president has incredibly deep pockets.”
(Reporting by Joseph Walker; Edited by Toby Davis)
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