BARCELONA – Rivaldo, a Brazilian star who belonged to Barcelona between 1997 and 2002, believed the Barça club had made “a mistake” by not handing over Lionel Messi at the end of last season, given the serious economic crisis that the Barça club is going through. He compared his case to Real Madrid, which sold Cristiano Ronaldo “and made about 100 million euros for him.”
The former Brazilian footballer who, as a Barça player, won two league titles and one cup (in addition to winning the Ballon d’Or in 1999) explained that the previous Barça guideline “made a mistake by not handing over Messi when he was still a They could do something similar to what Real Madrid did with Cristiano Ronaldo when he sold him and made about $ 100 million.
According to Rivaldo, this mistake will be paid by the next president of the Barça club, as he suspects the Argentine star will eventually leave with the end of his contract without any benefit to Barça’s treasury.
“Messi’s departure seems inevitable to me. It is very painful to see a very talented player leaving Barcelona for free while the club is going through so many financial difficulties,” he revealed.
In this context, the Brazilian believed that Philippe Coutinho would be “a good sell” because “he has a good line-up in England despite not going well in Barcelona and the club would stay with Dembélé and Griezmann, who can. help to ensure the future, despite the fact that there is a realization that the Barça club could not get back the investment it once made for its fellow countryman.
From there and because of the economic crisis that Barça is suffering, Rivaldo recommended establishing a new sports policy targeting the Camp Nou quarry, focusing on a Riqui Puig he said reminds him “of the first Xavi who started. when I was in the squad. I like seeing how Koeman is starting to make him more known because the boy shows that he has a great personality and that he is worth it “.
“He and Pedri are certainly the future of Barcelona at this time and it will be important that the transition is positive in order to continue winning titles,” he agreed, trusting that the president who wins the election “will make the right decisions”. the Barça. club to lose its sporting greatness, as happened to Milan in his day.
“I hope the new president knows how to make the best decisions, the right ones in terms of sponsorships, sales, signings … To prevent Barcelona from ending up in a similar situation. I honestly don’t think something like this will happen. with Barcelona, but it is very important to take measures to avoid this as the fans cannot afford the luxury of staying for a decade or two without fighting for titles, there is no question, “said the former Barça player.