With many Barcelona fans blaming La Liga’s president Javier Tebas for the departure of Lionel Messi after the club’s president Joan Laporta publically cited La Liga’s regulations as cause for the Argentine’s exit, Tebas has now finally opened up about the whole matter.
Tebas reveals that Barcelona had all means necessary to prevent Messi from joining Paris Saint-Germain and also stated that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner didn’t deserve to leave in the manner that he did.
Footballing fans around the world thought that La Liga would do anything possible to keep Messi in the league as his exit will be a massive loss not only in terms of popularity and viewership numbers but also the credibility of the league as one of the best in the world. Unfortunately for Barca, that was far from reality as La Liga were not willing to bend their rules for anyone.
Tebas, however, did admit that despite having experienced departures of previous superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and popular managers like Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho, Messi’s exit was the most painful one.
"“Just like when Cristiano Ronaldo, Pep Guardiola, or Jose Mourinho left. We knew that one day this would happen.”“We have had the great luck of having the two best footballers in the world in the two best teams in the world and from La Liga we have been able to take advantage of this to put ourselves on the world front line. ”“Perhaps Messi’s departure has been a bit more painful, because personally I consider him the best in history, and he didn’t deserve to leave like that, not only for Barcelona but for La Liga as well.”Source Sport"
In terms of Laporta stating economic reasons for letting the Argentine leave, Tebas strongly believes that the president isn’t being truthful and that the proposed CVC deal would have saved the Catalans from their financial problems.
"“It was not an economic decision. I know for sure.”"
Tebas had also publically tweeted at Laporta clarifying that the CVC deal would not harm Barca’s finances in the long-term as previously claimed by the club’s president.
Hola @JoanLaportaFCB , sabes que la operación de CVC, no hipoteca los derechos de tv del @FCB 50 años, lo que hace es que los mismos tengan más valor para todos los clubes y asi tú los puedas HIPOTECAR a tus BANCOS y resolver la gran deuda.Asi lo entendias hace horas.#Solucion pic.twitter.com/v3OdpC9ziq
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) August 6, 2021
It remains to be seen who is being entirely honest about the situation, but one thing is clear that the recent return of Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid has raised many questions on Laporta’s plans.
While the Frenchman’s departure will definitely save the club millions in salary, the squad is currently lacking reliable players in many positions. The next Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich will truly shed light on what to expect from the squad for this season.
Should Barca have accepted the CVC deal to keep Lionel Messi?