Barcelona legend Rivaldo slams the club for not doing this to Messi which Real Madrid did to Ronaldo

- Rivaldo has claimed that Barcelona chiefs should have sold Lionel Messi

- Messi is currently spending the last five months remaining on his contract

- Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are interested in the Argentine star

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Brazilian football legend Rivaldo has stated emphatically that his former club should have taken the chance they had during the summer of 2020 by selling captain Lionel Messi.

The 48-year-old who played 157 games games for Barcelona explained that the way Real Madrid made good money on the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo should have been an inspiration for the Catalan chiefs.

As things stand presently at Barcelona, the club's chiefs have not been able to convince Lionel Messi to sign a new deal and his currently contract will be expiring in the next five months.

Before the start of the ongoing Spanish La Liga season, Lionel Messi almost left Barcelona after handing a transfer request, but things were later settled and he the Argentine stayed.

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He has been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City even though Barcelona chiefs are trying hard to convince him to sign a new deal.

Barcelona are currently occupying third position on the Spanish La Liga table with 37 points and they are 10 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid.

“Barcelona were not in good financial health pre-pandemic, but things got nasty in the last year and beyond Lionel Messi's almost inevitable departure, the club may need to sell some more important players to generate income.

“As I mentioned previously, the club's board made a mistake by not selling Lionel Messi while he was still under contract, something Real Madrid did with Cristiano Ronaldo receiving around €100m in exchange.''

Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how Barcelona legend Lionel Messi was excluded from the FIFA 21 team of the year for the first time ever.

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The 33-year-old Argentine star was replaced by Paris Saint Germain forward Kylian Mbappe in the right flank.

While Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski join the 2018 World Cup winner to complete the three-man attack.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer starts in between the sticks and Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes along with Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) will operate in the midfield.

Source: Legit.ng