Madrid president denies playing role in Messi's departure
MADRID (AP) ā Real Madrid president Florentino PeĢrez denied having played a role in Lionel Messiās departure from Barcelona.
PeĢrez on Wednesday released a statement denying any connection with Messiās departure after being linked to it by a former Barcelona official who resigned because of the clubās failure to keep the star player.
PeĢrez asked Jaume Llopis to issue a retraction for saying that PeĢrez was a friend of Barcelona CEO FerraĢn Reverter and convinced him not to keep Messi.
Barcelona is struggling financially and couldnāt fit Messiās new contract into the Spanish leagueās financial fair-play regulations. Messi left after 17 seasons and signed with Paris Saint-Germain.
PeĢrez said āit is completely falseā that he has been a longtime friend of Reverter. He said he only met him twice, including last week after āthe official communication on Messi had already taken place.ā
Llopis resigned Sunday saying he was disappointed with Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who would āgo down in history as the president who fired Messi.ā
Messi's father, who is also his agent, recently told reporters that Barcelona was responsible for Messi's departure. The player had said he did everything he could to try to continue with the club, including accepting a salary reduction of 50%.
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