كومان: لابورتا أكد لي أن ميسي سيبقى في برشلونة وباليوم التالي رحل عن النادي

Speaking about the departure of Argentine star Lionel Messi from Barcelona during his tenure as the team’s coach in 2021, former Barcelona coach and current Dutch national team coach Ronald Koeman revealed some behind-the-scenes information.

Koeman said about Messi’s departure: “It was a surprise. They told me in the preseason, ‘Tomorrow we have a meeting with Leo and his father and we will sign the contracts and he will stay.’ The next day Laporta called me to tell me: ‘I see the situation as complicated,’ and that night Messi left… Lionel is Barcelona, he has done a lot for the club to the point that he did not deserve to leave in this way.”

Koeman added, “He has all the qualities you want in a player. Messi’s abilities were amazing. He had a lot of respect for me and I for him. I tried to help him and in my first year, he was amazing, scoring 35 goals. It was difficult at first, but in the end, he was happy. He was happy in training.”

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