Messi was attacked by the former Barcelona president’s staff.
A group of leaked documents that were exchanged by members of the board of directors of FC Barcelona during the period of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s leadership in the club revealed the sharp hostility that the members of the board of directors felt towards the most prominent stars of the “Blaugrana”, led by Argentine Lionel Messi.
Messi, accused by members of Bartomeu’s board of directors of blackmailing the club to renew his contract, and using his influence in the club to keep his friends, headed by Uruguayan Luis Suarez.
The Spanish newspaper “Sport” revealed the existence of a leaked conversation via the “WhatsApp” application for exchanging messages, in which Roman Gomez Ponte, who was then head of legal services in Barcelona, spoke with Bartomeu, former CEO Oscar Grau, and a number of other executives.
The leaked conversation took place in January 2021, when the details of Messi’s contract were leaked to the media by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
Ponte said in the message regarding Messi: “Bartomeo really, you cannot be good with this sewer rat, the club gave him everything, and he dedicates himself to dealing dictatorially with deals, transfers, renewal and sponsors only for him.”
He added, “He worked to renew Suarez and Jordi Alba’s contracts, and the commission to renew Ansu Fati’s contract, and above all, he deals with this blackmail and rudeness with the club that gave him everything, this hormonal dwarf.”
And he continued, “When things got bad, he sent a message to the president to reduce the salaries of the other, but without touching his salary or Suarez’s salary, for the club to know his contract is the least he deserves.”
Then the Barcelona president replied: “I agree with many things, but this type of article – the contract leak – harms the club’s image first.”
In those conversations, it was speculated that Joan Laporta, who was campaigning at the time, was responsible for the contract being leaked, in order to force Messi to leave.
Bartomeu said regarding the matter: “Yes, we heard Messi’s words a lot, but not always. His contract in normal circumstances is acceptable, as it represents 15% of the total budget.”
He concluded, “I suspect that Laporta leaked his contract, because in this way he can save 120 million euros.”
