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The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, believed that the best thing for Leo Messi would have been to end his sporting career in Spain.
Buenos Aires – LaLiga President Javier Tebas expressed his regret on Wednesday that the ‘movie’ of Argentinean Lionel Messi with Spanish football had a ‘sad ending,’ considering that the best thing for the Argentine would have been to end his sporting career in the European country.
Messi didn’t finish his career in LaLiga because Leo and Barcelona couldn’t reach an agreement. I wish he could have stayed and ended his sporting career in Spain. It would have been the best for him, for me, and for Barcelona,” Tebas commented during a press conference, following his participation in the Sports Summit Leaders event organized in Buenos Aires by the sports newspaper Olé.
The current Inter Miami forward had previously mentioned that his time in France was ‘complicated’ because he didn’t want to leave the Catalan club, but he and his family were now very happy in Florida.
“Leo has his family and his way of thinking, and I believe he has been looking for new experiences for a few years now. I wish he had come to Spanish football and had never gone to PSG. The ending of this ‘movie’ has been a sad one between Messi and Spanish football,” added the LaLiga president.
Tebas dismissed the idea that emerging markets in other football leagues could overshadow traditional European sports institutions due to the lack of a ‘big brand.’
“The MLS has been trying to position itself as a big brand for a long time, but it hasn’t succeeded. Messi, in particular, will help increase awareness, but they have the example in Miami,” said the Spanish football executive.
Currently, MLS, with Messi’s presence, and the Saudi League, where Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr, have experienced increased recognition and economic activity thanks to the inclusion of these figures, who were in Spain, in their respective leagues.
“Competitions are not made by the players but by the names of the clubs. You need to work much more on the competition and the brand. The Saudi league occupies me, but it doesn’t worry me. It doesn’t compete against us. We will see its potential, but it takes a lot of time to create a big brand,” he concluded.
In this context, Tebas compared the situation of the French league when Paris Saint-Germain had Kylian Mbappé alongside Messi and Neymar with that of the German league. He considered that the Bundesliga maintains a “great competition” without as many standout figures.
“The French league hasn’t experienced growth. It’s true that players make a league more attractive, but the key for its long-term success lies in the brands of the clubs and the competitions,” he pointed out.
“You can see it in the Bundesliga, where teams like Bayern Munich have a strong competition, and they’ve never had big stars. They continue to maintain a level equal to ours, achieving sporting successes without ever having a Messi or a Cristiano Ronaldo because the club’s brand and the competition come first,” he concluded.
