Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has come out to say that he thought ex-player, Lionel Messi would agree to play for the club for free. He recently revealed that once it became clear that the Liga giants could not afford to put a lucrative contract extension in place, he expected the Argentine to help the club out.
According to him, he really cannot get angry with Messi because he appreciates him as a footballer and he definitely had a huge desire to stay.
He added that the offer from PSG was just too much money and pressure for the South American to overlook.
His words, “With Messi I do not get angry because I appreciate him. I know he had a huge desire to stay, but also a lot of pressure because of the offer he had.”
“Everything indicates that he already had the offer from PSG. Everyone knew that he had a very powerful offer. We knew from Messi that they had a very good offer.”
“At no time do I think of going backwards. I think I’m doing the best for Barca. Nobody can put the institution at risk.”
“I did hope that at the last minute Messi would say that he would play for free. I would have liked that and he would have convinced me. I understand that the league would have accepted it. But we cannot ask that of a player of his level.”
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