‘We should have sold Messi’

FC BARCELONA’s interim president has claimed the Catalan club should probably have sold Lionel Messi in the previous transfer window.

The Argentine pushed for a move away from the Blaugrana before the 2020/ 21 campaign got underway, but former president Josep Maria Bartomeu denied him his wish to leave.

Following the financial strife Barcelona plunged into in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, Bartomeu’s critics believed that perhaps letting Messi go, whether for free or a transfer fee, might actually have left the club in a better position.

Interim chief Carlos Tusquets seemingly understands that standpoint, suggesting that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s exit from the Camp Nou would have softened the financial crisis the club is currently in.

“From an economic point of view, I would have sold Messi in the summer,” he told RAC1.

“It would have been desirable for the money we would have received, and for what we would have saved.

“We have received some bills from the previous board that we don’t want to sign. We will move them to the next meeting.

“I will not say what they are, but they are things that are not well formulated, nor do we think they fit the market price.”

With Messi’s contract expiring in June 2021, he is still heavily linked with a transfer away from the LaLiga giants, with Manchester City tipped as a potential destination. — Soccer Laduma