BARCELONA – Rivaldo, a Brazilian star who belonged to Barcelona between 1997 and 2002, considered that the Barça club made a “mistake” in not transferring Lionel Messi at the end of last season due to the serious economic crisis that crosses the azulgrana club, comparing is the case with the Real Madrid, that yes sold Cristiano Ronaldo “and removed some 100 million euros by him”.
The former Brazilian footballer who as a Barça player won two League and one Cup titles (in addition to being proclaimed the Golden Ball in 1999) explained that the previous Barça manager “made a mistake not transferring Messi when he still had a contract.They were able to do something similar to what Real Madrid did with Cristiano Ronaldo when he sold him and took out about 100 million euros.
In Rivaldo’s opinion, this mistake will be paid for by the next president of the Barça club because, he suspects, the Argentine star will end up leaving with the end of his contract without leaving any benefit for Barça’s coffers.
“Messi’s departure seems inevitable to me. It is very painful to see a very talented player leave Barcelona for free when the club is going through so many financial problems,” he revealed.
In this context, the Brazilian considered that Philippe Coutinho would be “a good sale” because “he has a good poster in England although things have not gone well in Barcelona and the club would stay with Dembélé and Griezmann, who can help to guarantee the future, despite being aware that the Barça club could not recover the investment it once made for its compatriot.
From here and due to the economic crisis that Barça is suffering, Rivaldo advised that a new sports policy be established at the Camp Nou focused on the youth team, highlighting a Riqui Puig who he said reminds him of “the first Xavi who started to stand out when I was in the squad. I like to see how Koeman is starting to give him more prominence because the lad is proving that he has a great personality and that he is worth it. “
“Surely he and Pedri will be the future of Barcelona in these times and it will be important that the transition is positive to continue winning titles” he agreed, trusting that the president who wins the elections “will make the right decisions” to prevent the club azulgrana lost his sporting greatness as happened to Milan in his day.
“I hope that the new president knows how to make the best decisions, the right ones in terms of sponsorships, sales, signings … To prevent Barcelona from falling into a similar situation. I honestly don’t think something like this will happen to him at Barcelona, but it is very important to take measures to avoid it because fans cannot afford to spend a decade or two without fighting for titles; this is beyond doubt, “said the former Barça player.