Lionel Messi and his father wanted THESE six players to be expelled from Barcelona: Reports

In what comes as shocking news for all the football fans across the world, recently-crowned World Cup winner with Argentina, Lionel Messi and his father once gave an ultimatum to then Barcelona President Joan Laporta to expel six players if they wanted to retain him, as reported by Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional. The report also suggeststhat Messi and his father -who also happened to be his agent, pushed Laporta to get rid of half a dozen players including Messi’s old teammate and Champions League winner, Gerard Pique. Messi, in 2021, after spending more than two decades at Camp Nou, left FC Barcelona for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint Germain.

As reports of an alleged rift between Messi and Pique made headlines on several occasions in the past, the ex-World Cup winner with Spain even admitted sitting across the table with the top brass at the club and spoke about repercussions of renewing Messi’s contract at FC Barcelona. Having played 506 matches together at the club, Messi and Pique had their differences and the defender opened up about what he told the bosses last year while signing a new contract.

“I’m good with numbers, but I find it hard to get my head around the financial fair play thing. I don’t know. I sat down with the president and it was clear that I had to reach an agreement with the club; otherwise we weren’t going to be able to register any signings. And I think if Leo’s contract had been renewed, the numbers would have been really difficult. I don’t know whether or not it would have been viable if everyone had made a monumental effort. I don’t have the information,” Pique told Spanish newspaper El Pais in 2022.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

ALSO READ:Lionel Messi's last-minute free-kick helps PSG beat Lille 4-3, coach Galtier rues schedule for Neymar's injury

Pique also claimed that he didn’t wish Messi congratulations after he won the World Cup last year, saying that he wanted some time off from everything, and that he didn’t even watch the final match completely.

“No, honestly, no. My last months were very hard and I needed to disconnect. I haven’t seen any sport, and I did not even see any World Cup games. This will seem crazy to you but I didn’t watch any games, just the final and not the whole game,” Spain’s veteran defender told Tiktok personality John Nellis earlier.

Meanwhile, other than Pique, Lionel Messi and his father wanted goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, mid-fielder Riqui Puig, forward Antoine Griezmann, young winger Ansu Fati and head coach Ronald Koeman to be removed if the club intended to renew Messi’s contract then.

Lately, Messi broke the internet with a tremendous free-kick strike during the dying minutes in the league game against Lille – helping his team win the crucial match 4-3.

You can watch the video here -