Ronald Koeman, a former manager of Barcelona, did not want Lionel Messi to leave the club.
He wanted the world’s best player, the Argentine superstar, to sign a contract extension at Camp Nou.
In the summer of 2021, Messi said a sorrowful goodbye to Barcelona after spending 17 years with the team.
Financial problems at the team were a major factor in his departure, and the superstar moved to Paris Saint-Germain.
When Messi left Camp Nou, Koeman was the manager there and gave the order to then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu to persuade the forward to stay in Catalonia.
Koeman was heard saying to Bartomeu in the documentary “FC Barcelona, to New Era”:
“Leo Messi needs to be told to keep going by us both. I want the world’s top player to remain.
But things did not turn out the way the Dutch coach had hoped.