Barcelona re-open their rift with Lionel Messi after admitting he should’ve been sold in the summer

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Barcelona really have become a PR disaster of late, and even the club’s interim president couldn’t help but put his foot in his mouth this week.

No sooner has Josep Maria Bartomeu departed, than Carles Tusquets has gone about rattling a few cages, despite the fact that he holds no power other than to help smooth the transition until the new board is elected on January 24.

According to RAC1 cited by The Sun, Tusquets has re-opened the club’s rift with Lionel Messi, after suggesting that the Argentinian should’ve been sold in the summer to help ease the club’s crippling debts.

Alarmingly, he also noted that Neymar could only return to the club for free, and that part of the Camp Nou was also falling down.

“It [selling Messi] would have been desirable for the money we would have received, and for what we would have saved,” he said.

‘If he [Neymar] comes for free, unless the next president brings a miracle.

“There is a part of the Camp Nou structure that is falling. Pieces of the ceiling have fallen from the roof at some gate to the stadium.

“The economic situation is worrying. Terrible but hopeful.

“When the stadium opens we will enter 220 million without doing anything, 320 million thanks to sponsors. Meanwhile the expense meter does not stop. The situation is horrible.”

The Sun also say that Manchester City are preparing a deal to tempt Messi to leave at the end of the current campaign, which is when his contract expires.

Were it to happen, it would allow Pep Guardiola to enjoy a final reunion with the player he helped to make the best in the world.

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