La Liga president Javier Tebas has admitted he was left worried by Lionel Messi’s surprise admission that he thought about leaving Barcelona in 2014.
Messi is considered Barcelona’s greatest ever homegrown talent but his recent comments at his own Cirque du Soleil show sparked concern in the Spanish game.
The Argentinian became embroiled in a tax avoidance scandal in 2014 and confessed that the unsavoury experience made him consider his position at the Nou Camp.
La Liga chief Tebas revealed it would have been a massive blow to the Spanish top-flight to lose such an iconic figure in the game and the world’s No 1 player, along with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Addressing Messi’s remarks, Tebas said: ‘I got scared and (then) I was relieved to see that, just as well, he decided to stay. In this low moment, he decided to continue.’
Tebas added on the court case: ”I don’t think there was cruelty, but they were unfair with him as a physical person. It’s clear that he didn’t sign or didn’t read everything. They would tell him where to sign and he would do it.
I don’t read all the La Liga contracts otherwise I’d be there all day. I’m convinced that it was an administrative issue and not criminal.’
Speaking in an interview with RAC1 which sparked Tebas’ comments, Messi said: ”At that time, with the mess of the treasury, I wanted to leave, not for wanting to leave
Barca but wanting to leave Spain.
”I felt that I was being very mistreated and I didn’t want to stay here. I never had an official offer because everyone knew my idea to stay here.”
Read Also: Messi: Why I nearly quit Barcelona
When pushed further on his tax fraud case, which ended with him having to pay a £223,000 fine, he
added: ”It was very difficult for me and my family because people don’t know much about what’s going on. The truth is that it was hard for everything that happened but it is better that my children were small and did not know.”