Posted November 12, 2021 at 10:45 pm by BC
Trained alongside Lionel Messi at La Masia, Oriol Riera does not hide his disappointment at having seen the Argentine leave Catalonia this summer to join PSG.
A thunderclap struck the football planet this summer. After several months of negotiations for an extension, Lionel Messi finally left FC Barcelona because of the financial problems encountered by the club culé. A godsend for the PSG , which did not take long to position itself to recruit one of the main priorities of the Qataris since their arrival in the capital in 2011. In Catalonia, it is still difficult to digest this departure, and Oriol Riera does not hide his disappointment at having seen Messi end his love affair with Barça . Trained at the Blaugrana alongside the Pulga, the Spaniard returned to this historic summer in an interview with AS.
“I think it will be difficult to know for sure why Messi left the Barça ”
“It’s unfortunate. The famous day when it went from “it continues” to “it's impossible” left us in shock, but I don't think it only concerns Barça fans, because Messi is a world emblem. and we were convinced that he and the club would go together until the end. I thought that like Totti at Roma he would stay at Barca on minimum wage and we would enjoy and enjoy his last years at Barca. (…) The club is going through a deep crisis and it is plugging the holes as best it can, but I have the impression that we are lacking information. I think it will be difficult to know for sure why Messi left Barca, but I'm sure Laporta has done everything in his power to keep Leo. If he could play for free? As Messi said, it was never asked of him. Either way, how are you going to ask the best player in the world to play for free when others are getting paid and some are unwilling to take a pay cut. I would have liked Laporta and Messi to sit down and ask each other how far they can go, ”says Oriol Riera .