Friday, October 8, 2021 at 13:32• Last update: 13:35

In Spain, they are not talking about the transfer-free departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentine superstar was no longer tenable for the financially distressed Barcelona and waved the club off after 21 years. However, chairman Joan Laporta was hopeful until the last minute that Messi would want to continue playing for the club for free until the Catalans recovered economically.

Laporta does not have a bad taste in the transfer-free departure of the attacker. “No, I love him too much to be angry,” the president told RAC1. “Messi will go down in Barcelona’s history as the best player ever and I would like to keep it that way. “Everything indicates that he already had an offer from PSG before he left Barca. We knew this was a serious offer. When it came time to make the decision, I thought I was doing the best for Barca,” he said.

The Barcelona president says he understands the Argentinian’s decision. “I hoped he could be changed and that he would continue playing for Barca for free, but we can’t ask that from a player of his caliber,” Laporta continued. “LaLiga would accept if he didn’t earn anything. I knew we could compensate him once we got out of the financial crisis, but to demand that with the Paris Saint-Germain offer in mind…”

In the run-up to Messi’s departure, Neymar’s name buzzed around at Barcelona. The Brazilian did not reach an agreement with PSG about a new contract for a long time, but eventually decided to stay. “We were told that he wanted to leave Paris Saint-Germain, but in the end he accepted a new contract proposal,” said Laporta. “Whether I was disappointed about that? No, that is the game of supply and demand. In the end it was good that he did not sign for Barca. That would not have improved the situation we are in now.”

Finally, the chairman of the Catalans briefly discussed Ronald Koeman. Last week, in the run-up to the duel with Atlético Madrid (2-0 loss), Laporta, somewhat surprisingly, publicly expressed his support towards the Barcelona coach. The Dutch coach mainly owed this to technical advisor Jordi Cruijff, Laporta admits. “It was only fair to give Koeman a certain amount of confidence. I am happy that I made this decision.”