Ronald Koeman commented on Messi’s exit plan
The new Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman, spoke about what Lionel Messi said recently about his plans to leave some time ago.
As is known, after the end of the 2019/20 campaign, Lionel Messi rebelled against wanting to leave the club. He was so disappointed with the club’s policies under the leadership of President Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The Argentine mega star has even sent a fax containing a transfer request to the Catalan giants. It was clear that Barcelona was immediately in an uproar, the fans begged Messi to stay and urged Bartomeu to resign.
In the end, the player nicknamed La Pulga remained at the Camp Nou because he had to. On the one hand he believes that he should be able to leave on a free transfer, while on the other hand Barcelona insists that Messi has a release clause worth 700 million euros.
After declaring that he would stay at Barcelona, Lionel Messi finally opened his voice about his plans to leave the club. To Sports, the 33-year-old player confirmed that he never intended to make things so dramatic.
Messi from the beginning always thought about Barcelona, he considered his decision to leave purely for the good of the club. However, as for the uproar that occurred, Messi also admitted that he would take full responsibility.
“I take full responsibility for my mistakes and if anything, it is only to make Barcelona stronger and better,”
“I want to send a message to everyone. If at any time they feel bothered by what I said or I did, I can emphasize that whatever I do, always puts the club first.” Messi said to reporters.
Interestingly, coach Ronald Koeman admitted that he did not know if what was said could actually help him. What is clear, said Messi about the importance of team unity is indeed true.
“I don’t know if after Leo’s words I will live a quiet life. I don’t think so, because there is always something here, but it’s obviously very positive when a captain asks for team unity.”
“I hope we can all be calmer for what we have been through in the last few weeks,” said Koeman.
In his first match of the season, Ronald Koeman led Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Villarreal.