'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Barcelona parted ways with Lionel Messi this summer as they couldn't afford to tie the Argentine to a new contract amid their financial crisis.
Former Blaugrana president Josep Maria Bartomeu claims he would never have allowed the forward to leave for a direct Champions League rival. He was quoted as saying:
"His departure has been a problem. We're a buying club, not sellers. I fought a lot in the summer of 2020 so that he'd continue, and now that he wanted to stay he has had to leave. I couldn't allow Messi to go to a Champions League rival."
"He's different to Neymar, [Luis] Figo or Rivaldo. It's obvious that he was the highest-paid player in the world and by a distance. I agreed a two-year renewal with him in July 2020, but then everything broke down. We'll have to ask Messi why."
Bartomeu's final year as Barcelona president was full of crisis as he fell out with fans after Lionel Messi's infamous burofax saga in the summer of 2020. The Spaniard ended up stepping down from his position in October last year before Joan Laporta was appointed earlier this year.
Despite that, the former Barcelona president has revealed that he'll present himself for elections again in the future.
He said:
"I will present myself for elections again. I have spent 12 seasons with the club, with [Joan] Laporta, [Sandro] Rosell and then as president myself. As a cule it's worth it. It was changed by COVID. From then it was a poisoned chalice."
How Lionel Messi and Barcelona are faring this season
Barcelona and Lionel Messi have had a tough time without each other this season. The Catalan giants have won just four of their 10 games across all competitions so far. As it stands, they occupy the seventh spot in the league table with 15 points from eight games.
The Blaugrana will also need a miraculous intervention to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League after losing their first two games in the tournament.
Lionel Messi has also had a slow start to life at Paris Saint-Germain. It took the Argentine four games to score his first goal for the French giants, and that has been his only contribution so far.
