'We told Messi we want Barca to be your last club in Europe': Ex-Barcelona President

Lionel Messi's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain was probably the biggest news to hit the stands, not because of the finances involved but because the six-time Ballon d'Or had not played for any club except Barcelona. According to former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, it was a 'mistake' to let the Argentine superstar depart from the club. Bartomeu was earlier slammed by the current Barca president Joan Laport for the financial turmoil that the club is currently in that led to the departure of Messi from Barcelona.

Bartomeu told Mundo Deportivo of seeing his successor, Joan Laporta, fail to keep Messi at the Camp Nou, “I have always thought that it is essential that he be with us, not only because he is the best in the world, but also because of his economic and institutional contribution. It is a mistake to let Messi go. He represents much more than a footballer.”

Asked about the infamous Burofax incident of 2020 in which Messi first informed Barca of his desire to move on, Bartomeu said, “Messi wanted to leave the club, we talked about it and I said no. I have always thought that Messi is very important to our club, Barca is also very important to him and it would be a serious problem if he left, as I think it has become now."

Bartomeu did not want Messi to play in Europe

Bartomeu told Lionel Messi then that if he wants to leave the continent to sign for a club in the MLS, Qatar, or the Chinese Super League then he can, but he will not be allowed to leave for a club within Europe. The former Barcelona President claimed that while Messi wanted out from Camp Nou, the club could not let him go because he did not have a confirmed destination, he just wanted to be free.

"I told him that if he wanted to go like Xavi and Iniesta, to Qatar, China or the United States, we can talk about it and we will do a tribute and a farewell. But Messi didn't have a team yet and he wanted to be free. We told him: 'we want Barca to be your last club in Europe. If you want to go to another continent later, no problem, but we want you to continue'. That was a bit of the story of the summer of 2020 - us telling him that we wanted him to continue and him saying that he wanted to leave, but without knowing where. I always asked him where he wanted to go."

(Image: AP)