Did Real Madrid President Perez play a hidden role in Messi's departure from Barcelona?
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez denied he had any influence on Barcelona's decision to allow former captain Lionel Messi to leave the La Liga club.
Messi was scheduled to stay in Barcelona after agreeing to reduce his salary by 50 percent, but an exciting development occurred last Thursday, which resulted in the Argentine striker moving to Paris Saint-Germain in a free deal on Tuesday.
The Catalan club's president, Joan Laporta, blamed La Liga rules on financial fair play.
However, Gawmbi Ubis, a former board member of the ESPY Barcelona project to renovate the Camp Nou, resigned from his position in the wake of Messi's departure before accusing Laporta of bowing to Perez's wishes.
"Messi's departure is a step that helps Florentino. Imagine that (Kylian) Mbappe now joined Real Madrid. Laporta was convinced by the opinion of the new CEO, Ferran Riverter, not to sign the CVC deal (an investment of 2.7 billion euros in the league) Spain) as well as maintaining the European Super League project with Perez.
"Is it a coincidence that Riverter is an old friend of Perez and that they were able to convince Laporta to change his mind and stop negotiations with Messi?"
Perez insisted, through a statement issued by Real Madrid, that he had met Riverter only twice before, one of them four months ago and the other last Saturday at a dinner in the presence of Laporta and Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus.
"The statement and the decision regarding Messi was issued and taken at this time," Perez said. "It is therefore impossible for me to have any influence on Messi's departure, or indeed any other decision taken by Barcelona. I hope that Ubis corrects his false comments as soon as possible."
Real Madrid and Barcelona opposed the proposed La Liga deal for 2.7 billion euros, because it gives CVC Private Equity a ten percent share of the league's profits, while Real Madrid decided to take legal measures against the proposed offer.
The two clubs, along with Juventus, hold the idea of the European Super League, which collapsed earlier this year when nine clubs from 12 institutions withdrew after a strong reaction from the fans and the media.
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