Spanish football giant, Barcelona, have confirmed the removal of Pere Gratacos as director after certain comments made by him against Lionel Messi at the Copa del Rey quarter final game.
In their official statement, the club said Gratacos had been dismissed for making comments which they do NOT agree with.
While speaking to members of the Press concerning the Copa del Rey result, Pere Gratacos insisted that Barcelona are not where they are only because of Messi:
"He's very important but it was the team who won [against Athletic Bilbao in the last 16]. Without Neymar, Luis Suarez, Iniesta, Pique and the others, he wouldn't be such a good player."
Meanwhile, Messi inspired the Catalans to a 3–1 win to overturn their first leg defeat and progress in the competition with an absolutely stunning free-kick. The 5-time Ballon d'Or award winner's all three goals this new year, has come from 3 direct free-kick attempts.
With Messi’s contract set to expire in 2018 and the Argentine holding out for an improved offer, there is considerable tension among the Barcelona hierarchy regarding both, balancing the books and appeasing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. Barca CEO Oscar Grau set the cat among the pigeons (in this case, Barcelona fans) regarding the future of Messi after claiming the contract extension needed to be “analysed with a cool head and common sense” by the club.
Friday’s comments by Gratacos would have done little to soothe nerves either, and their ill-timing may just have been the key to him getting dismissed from the role.
Gratacos was the director of training and education at Barcelona, overseeing key aspects of the famed La Masia youth system which Messi himself came through.
However after his removal from the post of a director, he is set to continue under a diminished role at the club.
In their official statement, the club said Gratacos had been dismissed for making comments which they do NOT agree with.
While speaking to members of the Press concerning the Copa del Rey result, Pere Gratacos insisted that Barcelona are not where they are only because of Messi:
"He's very important but it was the team who won [against Athletic Bilbao in the last 16]. Without Neymar, Luis Suarez, Iniesta, Pique and the others, he wouldn't be such a good player."
Meanwhile, Messi inspired the Catalans to a 3–1 win to overturn their first leg defeat and progress in the competition with an absolutely stunning free-kick. The 5-time Ballon d'Or award winner's all three goals this new year, has come from 3 direct free-kick attempts.
With Messi’s contract set to expire in 2018 and the Argentine holding out for an improved offer, there is considerable tension among the Barcelona hierarchy regarding both, balancing the books and appeasing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. Barca CEO Oscar Grau set the cat among the pigeons (in this case, Barcelona fans) regarding the future of Messi after claiming the contract extension needed to be “analysed with a cool head and common sense” by the club.
Friday’s comments by Gratacos would have done little to soothe nerves either, and their ill-timing may just have been the key to him getting dismissed from the role.
Gratacos was the director of training and education at Barcelona, overseeing key aspects of the famed La Masia youth system which Messi himself came through.
However after his removal from the post of a director, he is set to continue under a diminished role at the club.
No comments:
Post a Comment