BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Lionel Messi criticized on Friday the departure of teammate and smart friend Luis Suarez, which struck a severe blow to the breakdown of the relationship between Argentine and Azulgrana leaders.
Messi posted on Instagram a photo of him with Suarez with a message expressing his sadness at his friend’s departure and his anger at the club’s transfer to Atletico Madrid.
“It’s going to be like this to see you wearing another shirt, and even having to play against you,” Messi wrote. “You deserved a compatibility to start with who you are: one of the vital top players in The History of the Club, either because of what you did for the organization and separately, not because of the one you were given, but it’s true that at this point I’m not surprised at all.
Barcelona have to review their squad after the champions’ 8–2 defeat to Bayern Munich last month. New coach Ronald Koeman told Suarez, 33, that they no longer wanted him. to cut their players’ wage prices.
Suarez said goodbye to Barcelona enthusiasts at a poignant press convention on Thursday and left Camp Nou as the club’s third most sensible goal scorer with 198 goals. Uruguayans have helped Barcelona win thirteen titles since reaching Liverpool in 2014, adding 4 Spanish league and Champions League trophies in 2015.
Suarez has forged a dynamic duo with Messi over the years, and the two South Americans have neighbors and quick friends, along with their families.
“I accepted the concept (of your departure), but it wasn’t until I entered the locker room that I learned what it means,” Messi wrote. “How hard it’s going to be not to make a percentage every day with you, on and off the field. We’ll miss you so much. It has been many years of friends, lunches, dinners . . . many things I probably wouldn’t do of all those days together. “
Barcelona transferred Suarez to Atletico, a rival of the Spanish league, for 6 million euros ($7 million).
Messi had tried to leave the club he was a member of for 20 years after the debacle against Bayern, but Barcelona replied that he had to finish the last year of his contract.
Suarez also sided with Messi in Thursday’s dispute when he said, “I have to settle for that if the club makes a decision it’s time for me to leave, just as the club settles for that if a player needs to leave. “
Messi, however, has stopped looking to leave this season and has promised to play his for the team as long as he remains, even if he is even more dissatisfied after Suarez’s departure.
Messi’s comments are the most recent clash between him and the club’s board. The club’s president, Josep Bartomeu, called elections in March in which he can no longer run, but also faces a censorship referendum that can dismiss him and his board. administrators in the coming weeks.
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