Lionel Messi was sensationally branded a “hormonal dwarf” and “sewer rat” in WhatsApp messages sent by former Barcelona directors, it has been claimed.
The messages, sent in January 2021, have been leaked to El Periodico and also contain insults directed at Gerard Pique and current club president Joan Laporta, who was re-elected for a second tenure two months after the exchanges. They were sent in a group chat containing former president Joan Bartomeu - and the insults directed at Messi were made on the day that details of his contract at the Nou Camp were published by Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
El Periodico said that “hormonal dwarf” and “sewer rat” messages were sent by Roman Gomez Ponti, the club’s head of legal services during Bartomeu's time in charge.
