A Barcelona club director has been sacked by the club after
he claimed Lionel Messi wouldn't be so good without the help and presence of
teammates Iniesta and Neymar, comments that the club claimed didn't agree with
the club's own line of thought.
Lionel Messi has 18 months to run down on his current
contract with Barcelona and has been linked with a transfer out of the club.
Following recent comments by a Barca director that they need to be financially
sensible to decide whether to keep Messi or sell him, the club is eager not to
do things that'll further increase tensions between Lionel Messi and the club
and acted swiftly to relieve the director of his duties.
Pere Gratacós, a Barca
club director, who was head of Sports Institutional Relations with the Royal
Spanish Football Federation, made the comments after the Copa del Rey
quarter-final draw.
Gratacos claimed Messi
would not be as good without his teammates, despite the Messi's role in the win
over Athletic Bilbao , .
"Leo is one of the most important people in the team,
but it's not just about him," he said.
"He would not be as good without [Andres] Iniesta,
Neymar and company, but Messi is the best."
Th club released a statement saying; "FC Barcelona have
dismissed Pere Gratacos as head of institutional sporting relations with the
Royal Spanish Football Federation for having publicly expressed a personal
opinion that does not match that of the club after the draw for the
quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey held today in Madrid," the Catalan club
said in a bizzare statement:
"The decision has been taken by Albert Soler, director
of professional sports, who will assume these functions directly from now
on."
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