Florentino Perez: It's impossible that I had any influence on Messi's departure
Florentino Perez has hit back at suggestions he influenced Lionel Messi's departure from Barcelona, claiming such a reality to be impossible.
This comes after suggestions from Jaume Llopis, a former member of the Espai Barca Commission, that the Real Madrid president had a part to play in Messi leaving Barcelona.
"It's impossible that I had any influence on Messi's departure," Perez explained in a published statement.
"These suggestions are completely false.
"I haven't been friends with the CEO of Barcelona, Ferran Reverter, and I have met him only twice in my life, once four months ago and the other last Saturday, when the official communication about Messi had already taken place."