Why I Didn’t Allow Lionel Messi To Leave Barcelona – Bartomeu
Barcelona president, Josep Bartomeu, has said that the success guaranteed by Lionel Messi is the reason why he didn’t allow him to leave the club.
Messi who had tendered a transfer request was held back by the club which reminded him of the contract they have together.
With the Argentine now staying to honour the contract, Bartomeu revealed that he doesn’t want the club to have anymore disputes with him.
“I won’t get into any conflict with him. He’s our captain and the leader of our team,” Bartomeu said before the team’s 1-0 friendly win over Elche on Saturday.
“I couldn’t let him leave the club. He is the best player of all time and the team needs him. Having Messi is a guarantee of success.”
Messi recently opened up in an interview that Bartomeu broke a promise to allow him break his contract anytime he feels.
“We have seen him do his talking on the pitch and we have moved on from the saga,” Bartomeu added.
“The board and I will keep working to ensure we have the most competitive team possible,” he said.
“We will speak again after validating the votes, but right now no one wants to quit. The club won’t stop and we will keep working, we have lots of issues to sort out.”
