Kevin-Prince Boateng was Messi’s teammate in 2019 at Barcelona
Former Ghanaian attacker, Kevin-Prince Boateng has claimed that Lionel Messi had the power to block his transfer to Spanish giants Barcelona in 2019.
Kevin-Prince Boateng was signed by Barcelona in January 2019 from Italian side Sassuolo on an €8 million loan deal with an option to buy.
The former AC Milan forward disclosed that all club officials who had a major say in decisions, including club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, manager Ernesto Valverde, and both sporting directors, including Eric Abidal, had approved the deal.
However, the decision-makers asked him to hold on and as they seek approval from the Argentine national team captain before the deal could be sealed.
Boateng revealed that the signing only became a reality after Lionel Messi agreed to it.
“If Messi had said no, the transfer wouldn’t have happened. At the time, there were two sporting directors. One of them was Eric Abidal, and he said, ‘Yes, we want you.’ The other sporting director said, ‘We want you.”
“The president (Bartomeu) wanted me, the coach (Valverde) too, so I said, ‘Perfect, let’s sign tomorrow!’ They replied, ‘No, we have to talk to Leo first.’ He had that power. I went to sleep hoping Messi would approve my signing. If he had refused, I wouldn’t have signed for Barcelona,” he said.
Boateng’s short loan spell at Barcelona did not yield the expected results, as he produced no goals or assists in five official appearances.
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