BARCELONA – Rivaldo, a Brazilian star who belonged to Barcelona between 1997 and 2002, considered that the Barça club made “a mistake” by not transferring Lionel Messi at the end of last season, taking into account the serious economic crisis that the Barça club is going through, comparing his case with Real Madrid, which did sell Cristiano Ronaldo “and made about 100 million euros for him.”
The former Brazilian footballer who as a Barça player won two League titles and one Cup (in addition to winning the Ballon d’Or in 1999) explained that the previous Barça directive “made a mistake by not transferring Messi when he still had a contract. They could do something similar. to what Real Madrid did with Cristiano Ronaldo when he sold him and made about 100 million euros.
In Rivaldo’s opinion, this mistake will be paid by the next president of the Barça club because, he suspects, the Argentine star will end up leaving with the end of his contract without leaving any benefit for Barça’s coffers.
“The departure of Messi seems inevitable to me. It is very painful to see how a very talented player is going to leave Barcelona for free when the club is going through so many financial problems,” he revealed.
In this context, the Brazilian considered that Philippe Coutinho would be “a good sale” because “he has a good lineup in England despite the fact that things have not gone well for him in Barcelona and the club would stay with Dembélé and Griezmann, who can help to guarantee the future, despite being aware that the Barça club would not be able to recover the investment that it once made for its compatriot.
From there and due to the economic crisis that Barça suffers, Rivaldo advised that a new sports policy focused on the quarry be established at the Camp Nou, highlighting a Riqui Puig of whom he said reminds him “of the first Xavi who started to stand out when I was in the squad. I like to see how Koeman is starting to give him more prominence because the kid is showing that he has a great personality and that he is worth it “.
“Surely he and Pedri are the future of Barcelona in these times and it will be important that the transition is positive to continue winning titles” he agreed, trusting that the president who wins the elections “will make the appropriate decisions” to prevent the Barça club from losing his sporting greatness as happened to Milan in his day.
“I hope the new president knows how to make the best decisions, the right ones in terms of sponsorships, sales, transfers … To prevent Barcelona from falling into a similar situation. I honestly don’t think something like this is going to happen to Barcelona, but it is very important to take measures to avoid it because the fans cannot afford the luxury of being one or two decades without fighting for titles; that is beyond all doubt, “said the former Barça player.
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