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Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has taken an indirect dig at club president Joan Laporta for failing to keep Lionel Messi at the club. The Argentine talisman joined Paris Saint-Germain after Barcelona were unable to sign him on a new deal due to La Liga's FFP regulations.
Stoichkov, in an interview with TUDN via Diario AS, looked especially unhappy with Laporta's comments claiming Barcelona were on track to keep Messi at the club. However, the former Ballon d'Or winner stopped short of naming the club president in his comments.
“I see him [Messi] now, with this image, with another shirt, it’s different. I find it strange that people promised, that people played on his heart…’I am going to make it possible, ‘ I want to’, ‘I do’. But in the end the lie has become very big," he said.
“It’s very strange, this image. It’s difficult, but life is like this. Wherever he goes, I will always respect him for all that he has done for Barcelona, all that he has done for the people, for my children. I have been very fortunate to have it. It’s difficult,” he added.
Lionel Messi completed PSG move just a week after Barcelona president Joan Laporta claimed the deal was on the 'right track'
Lionel Messi completed his move to Paris Saint-Germain on August 10, just a little more than a week after Laporta claimed 'everything' is 'on the right track'.
The Barcelona president had previously claimed on multiple occasions that their bid to re-sign Messi were progressing positively, only to fail at the final moment. It was these comments that Stoickhov was referring to.
“We are in the process of getting Messi to stay. He wants to stay at Barça and we have to make sure that happens. We all want Messi in La Liga because he is a world class player, the best in the world, and he clearly helps to promote the league. I know Leo wants to stay and appreciate that highly. Everything is very much on the right track,” Laporta had said on August 2 as quoted by the club's website.
