Barcelona’s pursuit of former star Neymar has divided the club’s dressing room and reportedly a few players are not happy with Lionel Messi.
Soon after PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi slammed the Brazilian, stating that he wouldn’t entertain celebrity behaviour at the club, rumours of a possible return to Barcelona started doing the rounds. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez made the transfer saga even more interesting by jumping into the race to sign Neymar.
However, as it turned out, the 27-year-old stayed put but the club’s chase to re-sign their former star has made some players unhappy, as reported by Diario Gol. Moreover, Messi’s comments that he was hoping that Barcelona would manage to get Neymar on board has further affected the dressing room atmosphere, the report adds.
Firstly, Antoine Griezmann had his issues with the signing of Neymar as that could have affected his gametime in his very first season at the club. Ivan Rakitic, on the other hand, who was used as a bait to land the Brazilian isn’t happy with the club’s treatment of him and is no more on talking terms with Messi as the Argentine did nothing to ensure he stays at the club.
The third name on the list of players who aren’t happy with Messi is Ousmane Dembele. The youngster isn’t happy with the fact that the 32-year-old questioned his professionalism in an interview.