The former president of the Blaugrana broke the silence, criticized Joan Laporta’s decision and gave details of the episode of the burofax in 2020: “He wanted to leave without knowing where.”
In an extensive interview, the former president of Barcelona, Josep María Bartomeu, broke the silence after his controversial departure from the club and He referred to the departure of Lionel Messi towards PSG: “It was a mistake, it represents much more than a footballer that falls in love“.
When asked about the departure of the Flea to French football, Bartomeu expressed his disagreement with the decision of Joan Laporta, his successor, to let him go. “I have always thought that it was essential that he be with us not only because he is the best in the world but also because of his financial and institutional contribution. It is a mistake to let Messi go. Represents much more than a footballer who falls in love“, expressed in dialogue with Sports world.
Bartomeu even criticizes Laporta’s position maintaining that he fought for Messi not to leave in 2020, when the burofax episode occurred. In this regard, Bartomeu remembered those days and even He assured that he told Messi that if he wanted to go to another continent, he would understand, but that he wanted Barcelona to be his last team in Europe.
“He wanted to leave the club, we talked about it and I said no. I have always thought that Messi is very important for our club, Barça is also very important to him and it would be a very serious problem if he left, as I think it has been now. I told him that if he wanted to go, like Xavi and Iniesta, to Qatar, China or the United States, something we understood, we could talk about it and we would pay him a tribute and say goodbye. But Messi did not have a team yet and wanted to be free. We told him: ‘We want Barcelona to be your last club in Europe. If you want to go to another continent later, no problem. But we want you to keep going. ‘ That was the story of 2020. Us saying that we wanted him to continue and he, that he wanted to leave but not knowing where“, he confessed.
Neymar, the breaking point in Barcelona for Bartomeu
One of the points that marked a before and after for Barcelona it was the departure of Neymar a Paris Saint Germain for 222 million euros. In this regard, Bartomeu assures that It was clearly a turning point and that led to other economic decisions, which are criticized today but which for him were justified.
“His departure caused the balance to change after a club-state paid the 222 million of his clause. We fear for Messi, with a freedom (at that time, 400 million) affordable. That caused changes and we renewed Messi in November for four years with a higher clause (700 million). We signed (Ousmane) Dembélé and (Philippe) Coutinho providing Barcelona with figures to alleviate the departure of a crack like Neymar“he explained.
Nevertheless, precisely the signings of Coutinho and Dembélé were two of the bets that did not work for Barcelona, with injuries plaguing both their careers in the Catalan team. After defending the French (“He has been unlucky and I hope he now shows his quality“), Bartomeu justified himself and confessed that the arrival of Coutinho was supported by Luis Suárez and Messi.
“It started to heat up when (Andres Iniesta He tells us that it will be his last season and the nerves appear because of the great player he is. We tried to convince him to continue, he said no and we looked for a replacement. COutinho was contrasted and yes, Messi, Suárez and others insist that he is a great signing to be a natural replacement from the first minute after Iniesta’s departure“, Held.
Faced with the cross-questioning about his not believing that he gave too much power to the dressing room, Bartomeu closed his idea: “They have a power and you have to listen to them. It does not happen only in Barcelona. You have to take them into account, they know the day to day. During that term we have signed many players: sometimes we have taken their considerations into account and sometimes not“.
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