Former Barcelona sports vice-president Jordi Mestre has accused club president Joan Laporta of mishandling the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Speaking to Sport360, Mestre said Messi and his family remain angry about how the club handled his exit in 2021. “I know, from third parties, that Leo Messi and his family are very, very angry with Laporta. Very angry,” he said.
Mestre added that whatever tribute Barcelona organises for Messi will never be enough to match his contribution. “Whatever we do for him will be too little. What he’s given us is impressive. Not just on a sporting level, but also on a financial level: the tours with Leo Messi were one thing, and the tours without Messi were another.”
He said Messi’s influence went beyond goals and trophies. “It’s true that he earned a very good salary, but he earned it, and he also made the club a lot of money. There were players who came to Barça because they wanted to play with Messi,” he said.
Mestre also suggested that Barcelona should permanently honour the Argentine. “I would do something historic for him. I’m not even saying a statue, but I don’t know… the Leo Messi stand, for example. Let the name Leo Messi be passed down from generation to generation.”
On Neymar’s departure to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, Mestre said he felt “really bad” about how things unfolded. “He was an extraordinary player. Theoretically, he had to be, within our plans, a bit of Leo’s heir. And Leo wanted him back, he told me: ‘I want Neymar back,’” he revealed.
Mestre defended his past claim that Neymar was “200% staying” at the club. “At that time, not even the players knew he was leaving. I spoke to a very important player in the team and he told me that they had been at Leo Messi’s wedding at the table with Neymar and that he never told his teammates he was leaving.”
He went on to hint that Laporta’s close relationship with agent Pini Zahavi may have played a role in Neymar’s exit. “Later, over time, I put the pieces together and related how the whole issue of his departure worked, with Pini Zahavi involved. And we already know who Pini Zahavi is a good friend of, and that’s as far as I can go.”
Mestre also criticised Laporta for forgiving money owed by Neymar’s camp. “We won a lawsuit against the Neymars, for 16 million, and Laporta went to Israel to speak with Pini Zahavi, and it was forgiven, even though we (Barça) won in the second instance,” he said.
Laporta recently said the club plans to organise a tribute for Messi, who left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 before joining Inter Miami.
