La Liga president Javier Tebas has once again taken aim at Manchester City, this time criticising the club following links to Lionel Messi.
Messi stunned the football world during the summer when he announced he wanted to leave Barcelona and City were immediately installed as favourites to be his next club.
After weeks of speculation, however, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner announced he would remain at the Camp Nou in order to avoid meeting Barca in court over a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for free.
Messi has remained critical of those in charge of the club though and could walk away for nothing at the end of the season when his current deal expires for good.
Should the Argentine decide to leave, City will more than likely be at the front of the queue and Chief Operating Officer Omar Berrada confirmed to the MEN in October that they will be able to afford a move if it became a possibility.
Tebas has repeatedly criticised City, most notably when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned UEFA's decision to ban the Blues from European competitions for two years for a breach of Financial Fair Play regulations, and he has used the topic of Messi's potential departure from Spain to take yet another swipe at the club.
"We would prefer Messi to stay in La Liga but Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar left and we have not noticed any difference," Tebas said.
"Only Premier League club that talks about registering Messi is City and since they compete outside rules, what (I) worry about is they can access a player breaching UEFA's rules. It's not only me complaining, Klopp and Mourinho have also complained.
"I have criticised what City do so many times, doing it one more time makes no difference. They're not affected by Covid, pandemics or anything because they're financed differently and it's impossible to fight against that."
