Josep Maria Bartomeu says it was a “mistake” for Barcelona to let Lionel Messi leave in the summer of 2021, with the former Blaugrana president claiming that he would only have allowed the Argentine to depart Camp Nou for MLS or Asia.
That stance was taken in 2020 when the six-time Ballon d’Or first made a push for the exits, with Messi informed that he would not be freed from the final year of a lucrative contract.
That deal was eventually run down and, with financial mismanagement preventing fresh terms from being signed, the all-time great packed his bags and linked up with Ligue 1 heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain.
Bartomeu, who has shouldered much of the blame for an economic crisis in Catalunya, told Mundo Deportivo of seeing his successor, Joan Laporta, fail to keep Messi on Barca’s books: “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.”
