Bartomeu resigned from his position in October 2020. In the spring 2021 campaign train, Laporta made an electoral promise to renew Messi, but then did not fulfill it, as the Argentine ended up walking to Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
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Barça’s fortunes were complicated by issues of Financial Fair Play and a post-pandemic economic crisis during Bartomeu’s presidency that nearly led the club to destruction.
Laporta defeated Víctor Font at the polls in 2021 and faced the businessman again in his successful bid for reelection fifteen days ago.
This campaign, Xavi Hernández came out and backed Font by telling La Vanguardia that Messi’s return in 2023, once his terms at PSG expired, was agreed only for Laporta to pull the plug because he didn’t want a “war” with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Now Bartomeu has entered the discussion, claiming that Laporta could have prevented Messi from leaving two years earlier.
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“If they had done what had to be done, Leo Messi could have been renewed perfectly and other players could have been signed,” Bartomeu said.
“It was not the fault of the inheritance (of Bartomeu), but of fair play because the new board inflated the losses up to 555 million euros. When La Liga received (that news), it decided to do a second audit and considered that the losses were not those, since there were provisions worth 283 million euros.”
“But Barça decided to maintain its proposal, La Liga applied it and the club lost a fair game that it has not yet recovered to this day,” Bartomeu added.
Blamed for giving Messi an overinflated contract that, according to El Mundo, was worth 555,237,619 euros over four seasons, Bartomeu claimed that the iconic number 10 “was paid little for what he gave, whether on a sporting, economic or commercial level.”
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Already the ‘GOAT’ for many, already 38 years old and about to retire, Bartomeu also stated that Messi “would have loved to participate in the renewal of the squad, with these young people who are here now, who are also part of this famous heritage”, which is a nod to him playing alongside players like Lamine Yamal.
“But they fired him and it wasn’t like that,” Bartomeu lamented, as FC Barcelona fans continue to do.