Messi’s Departure From Barcelona Was Not By My Influence – Real Madrid President

Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, has insisted he didn’t influence Barcelona’s decision to allow Lionel Messi leave the club.

Messi had agreed a 50 per cent reduction in salary with the Catalans, only for a dramatic U-turn to happen last Thursday.
This has led to the 34-year-old signing for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent.

Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, blamed the club’s decision on LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) controls.

However, Jaume Llopis, a former board member of the Espai Barca project accused Laporta of bending to Perez’s will, after resigning from his position.

“Messi’s departure is a move that helps Florentino. Imagine that (Kylian) Mbappe now signs for Real Madrid.

“Laporta was convinced by new CEO Ferran Reverter that he cannot sign the CVC deal as well as keep the Super League pact with Perez,” Llopis told La Vanguardia newspaper.

But Perez in a statement today, insisted that he has only met Reverter twice and that “he statement and decision regarding Messi had already been taken and released by this time.

“Thus, it’s impossible that I’ve had any influence on Messi’s exit, or indeed any other decision that Barcelona have taken.

“I would hope that Llopis rectifies his false statements as soon as possible,” Perez said.