Joan Gaspart has never been one to hold back, and the former Barcelona president let rip on Lionel Messi and the farewell that still hasn't happened, delayed all these years, it seems, by his strained relationship with Joan Laporta after that sudden exit from the club.
The Eurosport website carried Gaspart's comments to the programme "Solo para Colis", in which he said: "There is no debating Messi's level, he is the best player in the world, but there is one thing he must not forget, which is that Barcelona is bigger than him."
"Messi should be careful, he should be careful," he continued. "I say that out of the historic affection I hold for a player I signed when he was 13 years old, and I was Barca president at the time."
Gaspart stressed the point: "Barcelona is bigger than the person of Messi."
The conditions Messi is setting for his goodbye to the Catalan club drew a sharp response. "He is a great player, indeed the best player in the world, and that is partly thanks, and I will not put a specific percentage on it, to Barcelona. So he cannot be allowed to forget that."
Patience is wearing thin, too. "I will give him a little more time, but the day will come when it starts to bother me that Mr Messi shows not the slightest objection to coming to Barcelona to bid farewell to the fans."
He added: "Regardless of who the club president is, he must come to say farewell to Barcelona. If Lionel Messi comes to say farewell to the club, he should not refuse to attend because Laporta is the president, only to come on the day Laporta is no longer there."
Then came the threat to boycott. "I would not agree to a tribute being held for him in that case. Who does he think he is? How can he make his coming to Barcelona conditional on whether Laporta stays in his post or leaves? If Laporta is not there, I will not attend on the day of the tribute."
To make his point about Messi's standing today, Gaspart turned to his grandchildren from the new generation. "I now have four grandchildren from the fourth generation, and I asked them whether they wanted me to buy them a Barcelona shirt. I said to them: shall I put Messi's name on it or Lamine's? They answered me: Grandad, Lamine of course! Who was that other player you mentioned?"
His conclusion: "My grandchildren even ask me: Grandad, who is the other player? Lionel Messi. And they say: ah, was he a good player? And I answer them: he was a great player, in fact the best player I have seen in history. And still, Grandad, I want Lamine's shirt."