La Liga president Javier Tebas has claimed that Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona this summer would have been a mistake for all parties.
The six-time Ballon d'Or winner submitted a transfer request to the only professional club he has ever represented, sparking a bitter contractual dispute as he argued that he was entitled to leave for free.
Messi was eventually forced to perform a reluctant U-turn and commit himself to Barcelona for at least another season, and Tebas believes that the correct outcome was reached for everyone.
"As I always said, I will always want to see Messi in La Liga. If he stays at Barcelona, much better for Barcelona," Tebas is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
"The union between Barcelona FC and Messi is so good for Barca, for Messi and for La Liga. I'm not sure whether departing from Barcelona would have been a good idea for Messi.
"Maybe yes as a player, but not for Messi as a football industry, because Messi is a machine in creating industry around him. Not sure whether it would have worked for him.
"Messi will finally stay but I must say that we had already sold La Liga TV rights worldwide for the next four years and nobody called us asking to cancel that agreement in case Messi would leave. No one."
Messi's contract is still due to expire next summer, meaning that he could leave Camp Nou on a free transfer at the end of this season.
Barney Corkhill
