Messi’s terrible personality put on display as he forces Bartomeu out

Messi may be a terrific player but how he is as a person is something that will also remain in question. His latest acts have shown his negatives, though.

Josep Maria Bartomeu announced the resignation of himself and his board in a publicly issued statement on Tuesday evening. The former president’s stepping down comes as a surprise given that only a couple of days ago, he had said that he never thought about doing so and was going to stay on until the club’s general elections in 2021.

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However, at the back of several Champions League defeats and statements against him mentioning how poorly run the club was, coupled with a fiasco created by Lionel Messi about wanting to leave the club, the president’s position came under immediate scrutiny. A vote of no confidence was being passed, but before it could materialize, the board quit.

Everything said and done about the Bartomeu debacles, he certainly was not as bad as the fans thought him to be and one of the major reasons which put him in a tight spot was Messi’s dramatic and selfish behaviour. Needless to say, some of the club’s fans blindly follow their idol and perhaps would not understand the sensitive matters of truth.

During his six years at the club, Josep Maria Bartomeu oversaw the signing of one of the club’s greatest ever player, Luis Suarez. The Barca first team won 13 trophies during his time, wherein he invested in some good coaches like Luis Enrique, who won them the treble. In fact, Ernesto Valverde was not bad either and only the fans put him in poor light.

The former Athletic Bilbao coach won two successive league titles and lost less than 10 matches across both seasons combined in the Spanish top-flight. He did oversee two embarrassing Champions League eliminations, but when the club’s current captain could not deliver under pressure despite first leg comfort, a coach cannot do much.

Messi started to open his mouth about Bartomeu when the president simply asked him to respect the contract in an extraordinary situation the world is facing and the Argentine’s dialogues saw other senior figures support him. At this point in time, it only looks as if Messi should be made the club’s de facto president while Bartomeu’s actual successor would only be in theory.

If Messi had actually left the club this summer, the Blaugrana would have been in a better place in the longer run because they would not have had to deal with a player who believes his status is bigger than that of the club. Not to mention, the backing of the fans has further raised his stock even though no player should be bigger than any club.

Bartomeu’s record of four La Liga crowns and four Copa del Rey titles as well as a year in which Barca won five trophies continues to stand, but unfortunately, he will never get the credit for that. As for the future, the club needs a president who will ensure that no individual will see himself fit to be proclaimed bigger than the institution itself.

Do you think Bartomeu deserves credit for the work he has done at the club?