Paris Saint-Germain forward, Lionel Messi, has hit out at
Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, for saying he could have played for free at
the club.
Messi has however suggested he would have been willing to
accept a bigger pay cut to stay at Camp Nou.
The 34-year-old accepted a salary reduction of 50% to stay
at Barca, but the LaLiga club were still unable to register him with the league
body due to their spending limit for the season being cut to €97 million.
Speaking after Messi had joined PSG as a free agent, Laporta
said he had hoped the Argentina forward would offer to play for free.
“The truth is, as I explained when I left, I did everything
possible to stay.
“Never at any moment did they ask me to play for free. They
asked me to reduce my salary by 50% and I did it without any problem. We were
willing to help the club more. My desire and that of my family was to stay in
Barcelona.
“No one asked me to play for free, but at the same time the
president’s words were inappropriate. It hurt because I don’t think there was
any need to say that.
“It’s like taking the ball from you and not accepting the
responsibility or taking charge of things. That makes people think and
generates doubts that I don’t think I deserve,” Messi told SPORT in an
interview published on Monday.
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