Barcelona star hits out at the club for their treatment of Messi

Gerard Pique Massive changes needed at Barcelona

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has hit out at the board for the way they have run the Spanish giants over the last few months.

The Spanish international slammed the treatment of Lionel Messi at the club and he also gave his opinion on the smear campaign run against the players by the club on social media.

Pique claims that Messi deserves more respect from the club and the stadium should be named after him. He also slammed the club hierarchy for forcing the Argentine superstar to submit a transfer request earlier this summer.

The defender also spoke about Messi’s desire to leave the club over the summer and how he was shocked to hear about the captain’s burofax.

He said: “How come the best player ever, that we’ve had the blessed fortune of enjoying, gets up one day and sends a burofax because you’re not listening to him? It’s all very shocking. What is happening?

“Leo deserves everything. The new stadium should be named after him and then whatever else commercial name they want. We have to take better care of our legends, not to disparage them. It makes me angry.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona were found guilty of spreading misinformation and painting their players in negative light on social media earlier this year.

Apparently the club hired social media accounts to spread their propaganda against some of the key players in order to skew the fanbase’s perspective.

He added: “The scandal with the social media accounts. As a Barça player, I see that my club has spent money, money that they’re now asking us for, to criticize not only people outside of the club that have a historic relationship with the club, but active players.

“And that’s brutal. I asked for explanations and he [Bartomeu] told me ‘Gerard, I didn’t know.’ And I believe that. But then you see that the person who you know made the decision to hire out those companies for those services still works for the club.”

Club president Josep Bartomeu has been criticised heavily over the last few months for the way he has run the club and it will be interesting to see if he can win the re-election and stay at the club beyond this year.

If the Spanish giants want to hold on to their best players and rebuild the team into a successful one, they will have to be reshaped from the top. It will be interesting to see how the next few months unfold in terms of on-pitch performances and boardroom appointments.