La Liga president Javier Tebas claims Spanish top flight is ‘ready’ for Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona while taking swipe at Manchester City for competing ‘outside the rules’
- La Liga chief Javier Tebas has spoken out on Lionel Messi’s potential departure
- The Barcelona icon requested to leave in summer but was bound by contract
- Manchester City were tipped as suitors for Messi, who wants a new challenge
- Tebas made the shock omission of saying the Spanish league is ready for his exit
La Liga chief Javier Tebas has insisted that the Spanish top flight is ‘ready’ for Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona.
Speaking this week on the future of the Argentine superstar, Tebas has re-opened a can of worms from the summer in addressing Messi’s request to leave and the links with Manchester City.
Pulling no punches, Tebas has boldly claimed La Liga is more than prepared for Messi – widely considered the best player to ever grace the game – to depart and play his football elsewhere.
Javier Tebas has pulled no punches and claimed La Liga is ready for Lionel Messi to move on
Messi almost left Barcelona in the summer after requesting to be released from his contract
Tebas made his case by pointing to how the league dealt with Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus, while also taking the opportunity to take a swipe at Premier League side City – who had emerged as favourites to sign the forward.
‘We would prefer Messi to stay in La Liga but Ronaldo and Neymar left and we have not noticed any difference,’ Tebas said this week, as reported by Goal.
‘We are ready,’ he added.
The La Liga president points to how the Spanish top flight coped after Cristiano Ronaldo left
Tebas went on to suggest that himself and many others find the way that City operate to be questionable, despite the Etihad club winning their Court of Arbitration for Sport case against UEFA regarding an alleged breach of financial fair play.
Tebas added: ‘It seems the only club in the Premier League that talks about registering Messi is Manchester City, who compete outside the rules.
‘I am not the only one saying this.’
‘I am not too worried about them. I have criticised what they do so many times. Doing it one more time makes no difference.
‘City is neither affected by Covid or pandemics or anything because they are financed differently and it is impossible to fight against that,’ Tebas added.
Messi will become a free agent next summer and will be able to finally depart Barca on his own terms, should he not sign one final contract with the Catalan club.
Tebas took a swipe at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and questioned how they operate
