Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has hit out at the board over their treatment of Lionel Messi.
Pique admits he was worried Messi would quit over the summer after he submitted – before withdrawing – a transfer request.
He told La Vanguardia: “Did I send messages to Messi? Those days, I didn’t speak much with him because I thought it was a personal decision. I remember a message: ‘Leo, it’s just a year and new people are coming…’.
“Leo had largely earned the right to make a decision and if he felt he had to go… As president, I would have done differently. How? ‘Or’ what? A player who gave you so much for 16 years… You have to come to an agreement with him. The two parties cannot be so distant.
“Was sending a burofax the solution? I asked myself: How is he being the best player on the planet, which we have the chance to enjoy, he gets up one day and sends a burofax because he feels he is not being listened to? Everything is very shocking. What is happening? Leo deserves everything. The new stadium must scream his name. We must preserve our symbols, not discredit them.”
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