{"id":51453,"date":"2021-10-08T17:45:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T16:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?p=51453"},"modified":"2021-10-08T17:33:20","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T16:33:20","slug":"laliga-barcelona-admit-they-wanted-messi-to-play-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sport\/laliga-barcelona-admit-they-wanted-messi-to-play-for-free","title":{"rendered":"LaLiga: Barcelona admit they wanted Messi to play for free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Nigeria<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has admitted that he hoped Lionel Messi would agree to \u201cplay for free\u201d.<\/p>\n

Messi left the club as a free agent to Paris Saint-Germain, once it became clear that Barca could not afford a lucrative contract extension.<\/p>\n

Both parties had agreed to fresh terms, but financial mismanagement at the Nou Camp and LaLiga salary caps meant that no paperwork could be signed.<\/p>\n

Discussing Messi\u2019s exit with RAC1, Laporta said: \u201cWith Messi, I do not get angry because I appreciate him. I know he had a huge desire to stay, but also a lot of pressure because of the offer he had.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything indicates that he already had the offer from PSG. Everyone knew that he had a very powerful offer. We knew from Messi that they had a very good offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt no time do I think of going backward. I think I\u2019m doing the best for Barca. Nobody can put the institution at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did hope that at the last minute Messi would say that he would play for free. I would have liked that and he would have convinced me. I understand that the league would have accepted it. But we cannot ask that of a player of his level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has admitted that he hoped Lionel Messi would agree to \u201cplay for free\u201d. Messi left the club as a free agent to Paris Saint-Germain, once it became clear that Barca could not afford a lucrative contract extension. Both parties had agreed to fresh terms, but financial mismanagement at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":51452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,18,26],"tags":[1570,2140,1864,1639,1629,254],"class_list":["post-51453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-barcelona","tag-laliga","tag-messi","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nLaLiga: Barcelona admit they wanted Messi to play for free - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has admitted that he hoped Lionel Messi would agree to \u201cplay for free\u201d. 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