“They didn’t cause any damage” - La Liga president makes bold claim on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi leaving Spain
La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed that the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi from the league did not cause any damage, according to Portuguese media outlet A Bola (via AS).
Tebas has been known to be straightforward and unafraid to express his opinions in public. He made another slew of controversial claims in this recent interview.
When asked if Messi and Ronaldo's departures affected the league, Tebas said that it did not harm the league but definitely slowed down the rate of its progress. He said:
“They didn’t cause any damage because we didn’t shrink, but with them, we would surely have grown faster. The French league with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé did not grow, Cristiano Ronaldo went to Italy and the international income of the Italian league did not increase, ours did although we lost them both."
He justified his last statement, in which he mentioned the increase in La Liga's revenue even without Messi and Ronaldo, by saying that they managed to attract new world-class talent to the league anyway. He called Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham the best player in the world and welcomed the idea of a potential move for PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe to the Spanish top flight.
“This year we have the best in the world, which is Bellingham, last season Lewandowski was at a great level, Atlético has Griezmann, if Mbappé comes that will help us be more competitive and grow even faster," he said.
The potential arrival of superstars like Mbappe and Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies would just add to the galaxy of existing stars like Jude Bellingham, Pedri, Antoine Griezmann and Vinicius Jr. in La Liga.
This has set the platform for the league to flourish and grow, competitively and financially, even in the absence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tebas highlights Real Madrid's financial stability, condemns Barcelona's mismanagement
In the same interview, Tebas went on to highlight Real Madrid's vigilant financial control and condemned Barcelona's horrendous mismanagement.
Tebas has previously been accused of favouritism towards Los Blancos, as he has publicly claimed to be a fan of the club. He notes that his fandom does not affect his impartiality as president, but a lot of his statements have been deemed controversial and biased towards Real.
Talking about the finances of the top two clubs in La Liga, he said:
“Barcelona has always had the habit of going to the maximum salary limit imposed by LaLiga. The pandemic arrived, income fell drastically, which did not happen with salaries... Other clubs, yes, managed to do it, Real Madrid, for example, never reached the limit they could reach, they were more cautious and that gave them room to, when the crisis arrived, be able to control the situation.”