Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed that the Catalan giants nearly lost Lionel Messi after the club were reportedly set to receive a record breaking €400 million offer to sign him.
Speaking in an interview with Cadena SER, Bartomeu opened up on his heavily criticized stint at Barcelona. The ex-president made a shocking revelation about a potential blockbuster offer to sign a prime Lionel Messi.
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Following Neymar Jr‘s shock departure to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, he claimed that the club were made aware of a reportedly massive offer to snatch away Messi from the club. He explained that the club became aware of a €400m operation attempting to sign the Argentine superstar. He said(via GOAL):
“A few weeks after Neymar’s departure, rumours began to circulate that a club was preparing €400 million (£346m/$470m) for Messi – the amount of his release clause. Funds from an Arab country were transferred to accounts in Europe”
“It doesn’t matter now… that’s old news; it was years ago. There are very few clubs in England, or state-owned clubs, that can afford such sums. There was a team willing to pay €400 million. I don’t want to name names, but it wasn’t City”
Bartomeu didn’t disclose the name of the club trying to sign Messi but ruled out Manchester City. The ex-president claimed that the threat of losing the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner forced the club to draft a contract that was one of the most lucrative in sporting history. He said:
“What we did was talk to Lionel Messi and his father and discuss the matter: we had to raise the release clause,” Bartomeu explained. “At the time, the clause was 400, so we raised it to 700, which is a very high figure. If you raise the release clause, you also have to raise the player’s salary and compensation.”
The new contract effectively ended the pursuit but played a major role in Lionel Messi’s exit from the club in 2021.
Secret Barcelona contract offered to Lionel Messi before Miami switch revealed
According to SPORT(via beIN Sports), Messi reportedly received a contract offer from Barcelona before sealing his move to Inter Miami. The deal would have seen Messi return to the club, designed to give him the farewell he didn’t get in 2021. Former manager Xavi acted as a bridge between the club and Messi’s team to make the deal possible. Unfortunately, Barcelona’s massive salary limit prevented LaLiga from approving the deal. The dream ended after Xavi was informed by Lionel Messi’s father that any potential deal was impossible.
Edited by Vignesh Raja
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