Argentina legend Hernan Crespo has said that if Lionel Messi really wanted to leave Barcelona, he should have employed a specialist to broker the deal and not his father.
Messi dropped a bombshell on the world game when he informed that Catalan side he wanted to quit Camp Nou.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner believed there was a clause in his contract that would have allowed him to walk away for free, but Barca were unmoved and insisted that any club wishing to sign the forward would have to pay his full release fee of €700 million (£630m/$825m).
Ultimately, Barca won the arm wrestle, with Messi exclusively telling Goal that he was going to stay at the club.
Crespo, though, feels that his future might not necessarily have been in the Blaugrana had he employed more experienced and specialist backing in his corner.
“He doesn’t stop being the father and in those circumstances you need a professional,” the former Chelsea, AC Milan and Parma striker told TyC Sports . “It’s not the same as an agent speaking: it’s a father speaking. The agent is not going to look at family sentiment.
“I don’t want to detract from his father, but he does not have the background in terms of these things compared to others.
“We’re talking about directors, contracts and money. You need someone who can handle himself in that setting.”
Messi, then, will stay with Barcelona for at least one more year, at which point he will find himself out of contract.
He revealed that he had been left disgruntled with the performance of the team in recent times, notably their embarrassing Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, who defeated them 8-2 in the quarter-finals in Lisbon.
Barca also suffered disappointment in La Liga last term as they saw their title slip into the hands of bitter rivals Real Madrid.
They will play Gimnastic and Girona in friendlies this week, while their Primera Division campaign is set to get underway on September 27, when they will host Villarreal.
Messi is set to be present and will be chasing his 445th goal in La Liga.