Interim Barcelona president admits releasing Messi would have been right move 'from a financial standpoint'

In August, superstar striker Lionel Messi expressed his desire to leave Barcelona, his longtime club, but the team refused to do so, demanding the €700 million buyout in his contract for any potential suitors. 

Just a few months later, Carles Tusquets, the acting president of Barcelona, admitted that it would have been in the best interest of the club to honor Messi's request, though he acknowledged the coaches were absolutely against getting rid of him.

"Speaking from a financial standpoint, yes," Tusquets said when asked whether the team should have released or traded Messi. "But that is something that would have had to have been absolutely agreed with the coaching staff. From an economic standpoint, it would have been desirable to sell Messi."

Messi has played for Barcelona his entire professional career, and many fans assumed he would finish out his career with the club. However, he has openly expressed some of his frustration with the team this year, and Messi said this summer he wanted out. It certainly didn't help that Barcelona lost to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals earlier this year.

The 33-year-old is currently signed to a contract that would earn him €28 million (approximately $34 million) this season and with only a year left on his contract, Messi could simply play another season and then move on. Losing Messi would officially end a nearly two-decade-long chapter in Barcelona's history, forcing the club to officially build towards the future while dealing with the absence of a living legend.