Neymar Jr of Paris Saint-Germain reacts during the match against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League in Liverpool, Britain, on September 18, 2018. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
Leo Messi says in an interview that former teammate Neymar knows it's a mistake leaving Barcelona.
MADRID, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona forward Leo Messi gave an interview on the radio station RAC1 on Tuesday night in which he denied opposing the club's signing of Antoine Griezmann this summer and where he also said that Neymar probably thinks he made a mistake in leaving the club in 2017 to join Paris Saint Germain.
"It's not true that I didn't want Griezmann to come. It has never been a problem from my point of view," said Messi, who said the French forward was "one of the best" players in the world.
Antoine Griezmann (R) of Barcelona vies with Raphael Guerreiro of Dortmund during the UEFA Champions league group F soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Barcelona in Dortmund, Germany, Sept. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Joachim Bywaletz)
He then discussed Neymar, whose possible return to Barcelona was one of the long-running sagas of the summer.
"He is one of the best as well, he's different; he does things nobody expects. Having him in our team would give us more options," said Messi, who admitted that the way Neymar left Barca by paying the release clause on his contract had upset a lot of fans who "didn't want him to come back and that's understandable."
However, Messi said he keeps in contact with his former teammate and implied the Brazilian knew he had made a mistake in leaving Barca.
"You'd have to ask him but I think that's the case. Knowing him as I do and seeing what he's going through I'd say that was the case," he commented.
Neymar JR (R) of Paris Saint-Germain vies with Antoine Bobichon of Angers during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Angers at Parc des Princes in Paris, France, Oct. 5, 2019, (Xinhua/Jack Chan)
Finally Messi denied trying to influence the club to try and bring Neymar back to the Camp Nou.
"Although many people seem to think I'm in charge of signing players and sacking coaches, I wasn't involved. I spoke to Ney and got the impression he wanted to come back but I only spoke to him and nobody else," he explained. ■
