Stoichkov believes the Barcelona board is smearing Messi’s name and suggested they’re trying to pit the fans against the players.
Reports emerged on Tuesday claiming Lionel Messi handed in a transfer request to Barcelona, intending to activate a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave as a free agent.
But Barcelona refuse to allow ‘La Pulga’ to walk free this summer and insist that said clause expired on June 10 despite his lawyers protesting otherwise.
The affair has taken an ugly twist in Catalonia, with fans descending on Camp Nou this week to express their outrage over the situation. It’ll likely get uglier if the dispute between Messi and the club goes to court, or should the former leave altogether.
Even Hristo Stoichkov, who played for Barcelona across two separate spells between 1990 and 1998, is appalled by the situation.
“We’re erasing a myth, we’re giving the best player in Barcelona’s history a kick up the backside,” Stoichkov told TUDN. “We’re staining his name, his charisma.
“I’m a member, so that’s why I’m saying we’re staining it. This board has ruined everything. It seems as though they want to pit the fans against the players.
Bartomeu's response to Messi:
"Either you renew your contract or there is nothing to talk about."
[marca via @BarcaUniversal] pic.twitter.com/CNZG1iAjyE
— City Chief (@City_Chief) August 28, 2020
“I won successive league titles, the club’s first European Cup – I don’t know how to repay the love from the fans.
“But this board doesn’t show its face. It pays journalists to add fuel to the flames.
“As a club, it’s pitiful.”
Stoichkov had quite the extraordinary career himself in Catalonia. Not did the ex-forward form a brilliant partnership with Romario, but he won the 1994 Ballon d’Or and 13 major honors.
Despite his exploits, however, the Bulgarian had a less than amicable exit.
“I don’t know why we, the players who have made history at Barcelona, are always shown the back door,” admitted Stoichkov.
“They think we’re going to bother them because we want to take the presidency off them or something like that.
“I don’t know what goes through their heads.”
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