Gerard Pique thinks Barcelona should listen to Lionel Messi. The Argentinian superstar was keen to leave Barcelona in the summer transfer, but the club insisted that Messi will stay for another season.
Messi and the Catalan club were locked in debat over a clause in his contract that allowed him to leave Camp Nou for no transfer fee. But Barcelona believed that the clause had expired, provoking a fight between the two sides.
“I ask myself: ‘How can it be that the best-ever player to have played the game, who we have been lucky enough to enjoy, wakes up one day and because he feels like he’s not being listened to?’” Pique said.
“It’s all too confrontational. What’s going on? Messi deserves everything; the new stadium should be named after him first and then the sponsor. We should preserve our figureheads, not underappreciate them. It really gets to me.” Pique added.
Pique believes that the Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeau hired a social media company to criticise the club’s players last season. However, Bartomeu has denied the allegations.
“I, as a Barca player, see that my club have spent money, money they’re now asking us for in salary reductions, to criticise us, and I’m not talking about criticising people outside the club, but current players; it’s atrocious.” Pique sadi.
“I asked Bartomeu for an explanation and he said: ‘Gerard, I didn’t know about it,’ and I believed him. But then you see that the person who was responsible for doing this is still working at the club. That hurts me a lot. And I’m saying that here because I’ve already said it to the president, too.” the Spaniard added.
Ronald Koeman has made worst ever start to a La Liga season as a manager and the bad news is that Barcelona’s campaign is not going to get any easier.
