Lionel Messi parted ways with Barcelona in 2021 after over two decades at the Catalan club, due to financial and structural obstacles posed by La Liga regulations.
The Argentine icon’s departure from Barcelona, however, has also been deemed controversial, with reports suggesting that Messi also had a fallout with the club, including president Joan Laporta.
Now, former Barcelona vice president Jordi Mestre has revealed that ‘Leo Messi and his family are very, very angry with Laporta’ over the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s exit, and told Sports360,
“Whatever we do for him will be too little. What he’s given us is impressive. Not just on a sporting level, but also on a financial level: the tours with Leo Messi were one thing, and the tours without Messi were another. It’s true that he earned a very good salary, but he earned it, and he also made the club a lot of money,” as per GOAL.
“There were players who came to Barça because they wanted to play with Messi, world-class stars who wanted to come because Leo was there. I know, from third parties, that Leo Messi and his family are very, very angry with Laporta. Very angry. What he said about the barbecue… we’ve seen it before. Now, I don’t know what they have in mind, but I think whatever we do for Messi will be too little.”
Mestre also revealed that Messi has also been discontent about Neymar’s departure from Barcelona.
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‘Leo Messi wanted Neymar back,’ says former Barcelona vice president
Neymar arrived at Barcelona in 2013 from his boyhood club, Santos, and parted ways with the Spanish giants in 2017.
During the Brazilian star’s four-year tenure at Barca, Neymar and Messi developed a great partnership on and off the pitch.
In the aforementioned interview, Mestre mentioned that Messi wanted to bring Neymar back to Barcelona after the 33-year-old made a €222 million world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain.
“Leo wanted him back. He told me, ‘I want Neymar back.’ I feel really bad that Neymar didn’t work out, because he was an extraordinary player. Theoretically, he had to be, within our plans, a bit of Leo’s dolphin.”
“And Leo wanted him back, he told me: ‘I want Neymar back.’ And I understand, because he was doing very well, one-on-one, if Leo had to do everything it was one thing, but if Leo and Neymar did it, things changed.”
Messi and Neymar were eventually reunited for two years during their respective tenures at PSG, before joining Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in 2023. Overall, the duo has made a total of 67 joint goal participations in 206 matches.
Neymar is currently playing for his former club Santos, while Messi recently signed a contract extension with Inter Miami that will keep him at the club until 2028.
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