Messi Has Reinvented Himself At Barca - Josep Maria Bartomeu

Lionel Messi has reinvented himself at Barcelona over the last year and is even better than ever before, according to Josep Maria Bartomeu. After winning the Ballon d'Or four times in a row, the Argentine has lost out on the prize to Real Madrid counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo in each of the last two years as the debate surrounding which player is superior rages on.

Following his defeat to Ronaldo at the turn of the year, Messi went on to play a pivotal role for Barca as they went on to beat Madrid to the league title and also lift the Copa del Rey and the Champions League title in their second domestic and European treble in six seasons.


And presidential candidate Bartomeu feels Luis Enrique's men were powered to a glorious campaign by a new and improved version of the Argentina star.

"Messi is the best in football history," he told Cadena Cope. "This year he has been reinvented into an even better version.

"The animosity between Luis Enrique and Messi has passed. I acted on common sense and spoke to everyone, I contributed my bit, but there were many more who were involved too."

The 52-year-old also revealed that Luis Suarez had more lucrative offers before he joined Barca, and touched on the ongoing legal issues surrounding the amount of money the club paid to buy Neymar from Santos.

"I have to thank Luis Suarez for coming to Barcelona when there was a better offer than ours," he added.

"Barcelona have not done anything wrong. There are people interested in shaking the club. It is normal that a tax issue between Brazil and Spain has created this incredible drana. It will end in nothing.

"I am charged with defending Barcelona. Someone did not want Neymar to play for Barca. Neymar cost €57.1 million. I will not change that stance. The other €40m was paid to a company of his parents. It's not normal that we are being sued two years later."