Lionel Messi hurt by Barcelona defender’s comments to Laporta over summer exit

Lionel Messi’s exit from Barcelona in the summer was shocking and unanticipated. The 34-year-old had played for the Catalan giants throughout his career and nobody would have ever imagined that a day would come when he would don a different club’s jersey.

However, that is exactly what happened in the summer as Barcelona’s financial troubles meant that they were in no position to hand him a new contract while conforming to La Liga’s Financial Fair Play rules.

The Argentina captain was desperate to continue at Camp Nou, and was even willing to take a massive 50% pay cut in order to make it happen. Ultimately, though, things were just too difficult and a tearful Messi bid goodbye to Barcelona, embarking on a new journey at Paris Saint-Germain.

New information regarding the entire transfer saga has come to light now, thanks to Lluis Mascaro, the director of newspaper SPORT.

Speaking to Radioestadio Noche, Mascaro has revealed that prior to Messi’s exit, Barcelona president Joan Laporta spoke to Gerard Pique about the entire situation, with the senior defender claiming that the Argentine superstar’s exit will have no effect on the team.

“Messi knows that Pique told Laporta that if Messi left [the club] nothing [bad] would happen,” Mascaro said. These comments are believed to have left the former Barcelona No. 10 deeply hurt.

Perhaps, it could explain why the six-time Ballon d’Or winner left out Pique when naming the Barca players that he had remained in touch with even after his exit. “Yes. I speak often with [Sergio] Kun Aguero, who was not a team-mate but is a great friend. [And I also speak] with Busi [Sergio Busquets], [and] with Jordi Alba often [too],” Messi had said (h/t The Sun).

Meanwhile, Pique had recently admitted that Messi’s departure had hurt Barcelona on the field. So, it will be interesting to see what the veteran star has to stay about these comments from Mascaro.