Di Maria accused of disrespect by Koeman over Messi comments

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman has accused Angel Di Maria of a “lack of respect” for the Blaugrana after the Argentine admitted he would like to see Messi join PSG.

Messi is currently unhappy at the Camp Nou after becoming disillusioned with life in Catalunya both on and off the pitch.

Things reached boiling point for the superstar when Barcelona were destroyed 8-2 by Bayern in the Champions League, which led to him requesting to leave the club that summer.

Barcelona and now-exiled club president Josep Maria Bartomeu refused, with Messi subsequently agreeing to stay for another year rather than getting involved in a dispute with the club he has been with his whole career.

With his contract running out in the summer of 2021, however, he became free to talk to other clubs as of 1 January.

The most likely destination at the moment should he leave the Camp Nou is PSG, who appear to be leading the queue of suitors.

FootballTransfers previously revealed that the Ligue 1 champions had told PSG merchandise vendors within the city to prepare for Messi’s arrival.

Though no concrete offer has been made public as of yet, several figures at PSG have been talking about Messi including sporting director Leonardo and new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The latest representative to have his say his Di Maria, who is a team-mate of Messi’s at Argentina.

“Yes, yes, I hope so,” Di Maria replied to Canal Plus when asked about if he would like PSG to sign Messi.

“There are many possibilities. We have to be calm and things will develop.”

Barcelona boss Koeman has slammed Di Maria for these comments about Messi, which he believes are disrespectful to his club.

“It seems to me a lack of respect. Someone can be wrong in saying something like that,” the Dutchman said.

“It is not fair, I do not think it is respectful towards Barca to speak like that of a player who is ours. So many people from PSG talk a lot about Leo, who plays for Barca.

“Besides, we have a tie against them,”

Koeman was referring to the upcoming tie between Barcelona and PSG in the last-16 of the Champions League, with the first leg set to take place on 16 February, with all eyes set to be on Messi.