José Elías, one of the main guarantors of Barcelona, gave an interview to the program The cassock, where he analyzed the current moment of the Catalan club. Among the topics discussed, Lionel Messi’s departure did not escape the shareholder’s analysis, referring that it was “unavoidable”.
“The end of Messi at Barça was visible. It was necessary to build a new team and with Messi in the squad it was not possible, he was no longer old enough to remain at Barça. To turn Barcelona into a winning team, a post-Messi project is needed. This was a decision that had to be taken sooner or later”, guaranteed José Elías, assuming that Messi’s grief with the club is also related to the fact that the player “realizes that he is at the end of his cycle”.
The Barcelona guarantor also said that Messi’s departure from Catalonia was not just for financial reasons, as was suggested. José Elías assumed that “Barça had economic limitations and that there were three reasons why it could not continue”.
“In the club’s salary organization, we had to face salary cuts that were difficult to defend. Then we didn’t have the money to pay him and we were trying to do it in installments, which is what they are doing in Paris. And, in addition, it was necessary to generate a new team and a new reality in the club», he explained.
– .
