The president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, assumed his share of responsibility on Monday in the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint Germain by ensuring that the relationship with the Argentine star deteriorated over time. The Catalan president even took charge of the political cost of letting the club’s top idol go by understanding that “The post-Messi era was two years ahead.”
“All I can say to Messi is that we have eternal gratitude to him,” Laporta said at a press conference in which he tried to explain the economic-financial crisis that Barcelona is in and for which he blamed his predecessor, Josep María Bartomeu. “Messi has been a love story with Barsa; it has been a relationship of many years that has been deteriorating and that is the law of life”, Laporta sentenced, who defended his position of not renewing the Argentine contract at any cost.
“I think it has been a successful relationship that has lasted many years and that in the end it has deteriorated. We have advanced the post Messi two years. His presentation has been with mixed feelings. Like all Barcelona fans, I would have preferred to see him at Barça, although we have made the right decision because Barça is above all “, remarked the Catalan leader.
With those words, Laporta seems to have answered the question to the media that Jorge Messi launched at the Barcelona airport, when he was about to travel with his son to seal the new link with PSG. “Who is the culprit? Ask at the club”, Messi Sr. had fired, targeting the Barcelona leadership.
But beyond assuming his part of responsibility, Laporta affirmed this Monday that his predecessor in office, Josep María Bartomeu, was the main culprit of what happened, since his mismanagement led the club to ruin. “We have lost precious time to update the club and its heritage. There are eight lies in Bartomeu’s letter. I do not believe in this exercise desperately to justify an unjustifiable management to escape its responsibility “Laporta said at a press conference.
The president of Barcelona criticized Bartomeu for him “bad taste to take advantage of the moment of convulsion due to the discouragement that certain decisions have produced” in clear reference to the march of the maximum champion and historical scorer of the club “blaugrana”. “It is opportunistic. We, of course, will clarify responsibilities. It is sad to see a letter full of lies and more for a person who has been president of a board that has led the club to ruin. It is the double standard of justifying the unjustifiable mismanagement, “Laporta replied.
Bartomeu published a letter in which he accused Laporta of “inaction” and accused the current leadership of being “responsible for the losses of 487 million euros compared to last year and the departure of players like Lionel Messi”.
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