Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart has taken the unorthodox approach of criticizing the club’s greatest ever player. His main point of contention is Lionel Messi’s presumed reluctance to be associated with the club while Joan Laporta sits at its helm, prompting the damning question: “Who does he think he is?”
Gaspart should be well aware of Messi’s status. The long-serving club official was president of his boyhood team when Carles Rexach convinced Messi’s father, Jorge, to sign an impromptu contract on a paper napkin in 2000, watching on as the tiny Argentine grew into Barcelona’s leading appearance maker and scorer.
