Former Barcelona President Joan Laporta fears the Catalans’ financial position will eventually force the sale of players such as Neymar.
Laporta was speaking on Radio Monte Carlo, with his comments first picked up by the Gazzetta dello Sport and later AS, and he revealed during his time at Barca’s helm that there was frequent interest in Lionel Messi.
“When I was the boss the club received many proposals from Inter and other clubs to pay Messi’s clause, but I always told them it was impossible,” he noted.
“If I was Barca President, Messi would never leave Barca.”
Laporta, who held the office between 2003 and 2010 and stood for election again in the summer poll, losing to Josep Maria Bartomeu, added that Barca’s monetary state could force drastic action.
“The situation isn’t good and to balance the accounts Bartomeu will have to sell players or other assets,” he insisted.
“The best solution is to sell big players. They say Manchester United [have been interested in Neymar] but that’s a result of the current mismanagement.”
Laporta also criticised the Barca board for not fighting harder against punishments from UEFA for the display of Estelada flags, which symbolise Catalan independence, by fans at Champions League fixtures.
“We shouldn’t give in, for a lot of reasons, such as having a board that complies with the penalties for the display of Esteladas [at the Champions League final] in Berlin,” he replied when asked about his criticism of the current Blaugrana hierarchy.