Florentino Perez denies having any part in Lionel Messi’s departure from Barcelona. The Real Madrid president was accused of this by Jaume Llopis, a former member of the Espai Barça committee. However, Pérez is not aware of any harm and says it is “impossible” that he was able to influence the departure of the Argentine star. Messi made the switch from Barcelona on Tuesday to Paris Saint-Germain, where he signed a two-year contract.
Llopis spoke through various Spanish media earlier this week about a multi-party collaboration to convince Joan Laporta that it would be better to let Messi go. “Laporta was pressured by its CEO on the one hand and Florentino on the other,” Llopis said. “They have convinced him that Messi should leave the club and that he should not sign the deal with CVC. Reverter and Perez have also been friends for a long time.” CVC is an investment fund that wants to take a minority interest of ten percent in LaLiga for 2.7 billion euros.
The deal, which will be concluded over a period of no less than fifty years, should make it possible for clubs to recover from the blow caused by the corona pandemic. The investment of 2.7 billion euros from CVC Capital Partners will benefit the clubs in LaLiga for ninety percent. Pérez, meanwhile, denies all allegations. “There’s no way I could have influenced Messi’s departure or any Barcelona decision,” he said. “And it’s nonsense that I’ve been friends with Reverter for a long time. We’ve only met twice.”
Pérez not only says he is innocent, he also counts on a rectification from Llopis. “The first time I met Reverter was four months ago. The second time was last Saturday during a meeting in Barcelona between President Joan Laporta and President Andrea Agnelli (President of Juventus, ed.), when official communication about the departure of Messi had already taken place. So I hope Jaume Llopis corrects these statements, which do not correspond to the truth, as soon as possible,” concludes Perez.
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