Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has hit out at Paris Saint-Germain for their public courting of Lionel Messi.
The Ligue 1 giants have been one of the many top clubs linked with a transfer swoop for Messi as he nears the end of his contract at Barcelona, and Laporta has branded them as “disrespectful” for the way they’ve behaved.
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As reported by Goal, PSG chief Leonardo recently made it clear that Messi is a great player and that talents of his calibre would always be among PSG’s targets.
Laporta, who is in the running to become Barca president, has now suggested that the Catalan giants could take legal action against PSG for their actions.
“It is disrespectful to Barca that clubs like PSG publicly say they are going to sign Messi,” Laporta is quoted by Goal.
“This coming from a club-state that have bypassed the rules. We cannot allow clubs and states the luxury of destabilising another club.
“In that sense, we will have to speak with UEFA and FIFA to avoid such actions. PSG must abstain from [talking about Messi]. It is out of place for another club to speak about him. And, at the moment, there is no president in place to respond to this lack of respect.”
This whole saga could get pretty ugly, and it seems clear that these two clubs don’t have the best relations.
One imagines there is still some bad blood from the Neymar deal back in 2017, when the Brazilian superstar made the surprise move from the Nou Camp to the Parc des Princes.
It would be another big blow for Barcelona’s pride if the legendary Messi ended up making the same move.