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According to Cadena SER on September 1, Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu lied to captain Lionel Messi when hiring Antoine Griezmann in the summer of 2019.
Messi once asked Bartomeu if he would buy Griezmann, and the president of Barça answered no. At the time, Bartomeu did not realize that the termination clause for Griezmann’s contract at Atlético de Madrid decreased from $ 220 million to $ 135 million after July 1, 2019. On July 12, 2019, Barça announced that he would spend $ 135 million to recruit the French forward. Messi felt cheated at the time, according to Messi SER string.
Messi and Bartomeu haven’t spoken in person for a long time. Image: Clutchpoints
Messi wanted to bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou, but it was not approved. Before hiring Griezmann, Barça also negotiated Neymar’s agreement with PSG. They offered 132 million dollars together with Ivan Rakitic, Ousmane Dembele and Jean-Clair Todibo. But PSG wants Barça to add 24 million dollars to Barça, a total of 156 million dollars. Bartomeu disagrees. Shortly after, Barça paid $ 135 million to Griezmann, then $ 20 million to Martin Braithwaite in February 2020. The amount of money for these two deals is enough for Barça to sign Neymar, but it does not follow Messi.
Messi is also not satisfied at the meeting with new coach Ronald Koeman on August 20. He had to leave the holidays to discuss his future with Koeman. Messi wants Barça to buy a lot, but Koeman replied that the team had to liquidate some pillars before spending money. Koeman’s words made Messi hesitate.
In September 2019, Bartomeu said above Television boat “Before Messi entered the final season of his contract, 2020-2021, he was free to go. But Messi was not eager to terminate the contract.”
Then, SER string Bartomeu also revealed that he is confident that Messi will extend for another two years. He even told the board members about the opportunity. But the fact that Barça were empty-handed last season, and a 2-8 loss to Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals also made Messi want to leave.
According to Cadena SER, Messi will talk about his decision to leave Barça, after the meeting between Bartomeu and his father -Jorge Messi- closes on Wednesday 02/09. On September 1, Jorge boarded a plane from Argentina to Spain.
Hoang an (according to the SER string)
