LaLiga president, Javier Tebas, has said Lionel Messi could have stayed at Barcelona this season if the club did not sign Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero.
Messi now plays for Paris Saint-Germain in France, after joining the club on a free transfer in the summer.
The 34-year-old left Nou Camp because Barca, whose gross debt is close to €1.4 billion, could not afford to renew his contract.
Barca president Joan Laporta revealed that the club could have kept Messi, if they agreed to LaLiga’s offer to sell 10% of its business to CVC Capital Partners.
That deal would have been worth around €270 million to Barca, but they refused to sign off the sale.
Tebas has now explained how the deal would have allowed Barca to renew Messi’s contract.
“I had dinner at Laporta’s house and he agreed to sign the CVC agreement.
“I didn’t know if Messi could renew because of that, but later I got a call [from Laporta]. ‘Can we accelerate the CVC deal? The kid [Messi] is getting nervous,’ he said.
“I told him: ‘The day it comes out, Florentino is going to try and burst it.’ And Laporta told me: ‘No, no, I have character.’ Florentino’s behind it all, I have no doubt.
“There was an agreement that if [Barca] signed the CVC deal, they could have put 15% of the money towards signing players. In my opinion, they could have signed Messi.
“Laporta signed players like Memphis, Aguero… if he didn’t sign those players, Messi could continue,” Tebas told COPE.