Iniesta's damning denial leaves Bartomeu embarrassed

Posted Friday, September 08, 2017 by Marca.com

A bad week got even worse for Josep Maria Bartomeu as the Barcelona president was left embarrassed by Andres Iniesta's denial of the suggestion a contract extension had been agreed in principle.

Much of the summer focus at the Camp Nou has been about matters away from the pitch as contract extensions have caused the club major headaches.

Lionel Messi's renewal had been verbally agreed prior to the sale of Neymar, yet with the landscape at the club having changed, it is a sizeable worry that the Argentine has yet to sign.

Iniesta's contract expires in June 2018 and to this point there hasn't been a major rush to get the Spanish midfielder to officially extend his stay in Catalonia.

An expectation that the La Masia graduate would of course sign has proven problematic, as the 33-year-old continues to think about his future.

Bartomeu's suggestion on Tuesday that such an extension had been agreed in principle came as a major positive for his administration following Monday's launch of a vote of no confidence amongst members.

Unfortunately the 54-year-old has been embarrassed by Iniesta's own public confirmation that no such agreement exists.

His simple 'no' was the shortest of denials but the midfielder's words carried far more weight than the single syllable would intimate.

It served as further evidence that Bartomeu is either not fully in control of operations within the Blaugrana, or that he is constantly feeding fans misinformation via the press.

Both are catastrophic truths for a president of a football club and in any case, the Spaniard has quite the form book of mistakes.

Iniesta, Messi and Neymar

Bartomeu quite simply can't stay out of the headlines.

On the very same day he issued wrong information regarding Iniesta's renewal, he also took aim at Neymar which forced the Brazilian to label his presidency a joke.

Messi's own silence speaks volumes given the fact the Argentine has always been quick to prove his loyalty to the club in the past.

In saying nothing and not actively pursuing the official signing of his extension, Messi is all but confirming that all is not right behind the scenes.

For Bartomeu to try and paper over those cracks with incorrect public statements about the contract of a beloved figure such as Iniesta will only further alienate fans.

The administration has no credibility

One of the major concerns coming out of the Iniesta issue is that it is far from an isolated incident.

The summer of 2017 has been full of unfortunate statements by those in positions of power at the Camp Nou that have then needed to be either retracted, defended or explained.

From Neymar's departure, the pursuit of Coutinho right through to Gerard Pique's own goal in the Supercopa.

Neymar's departure

Paris Saint-Germain's pursuit of Neymar took the footballing world by surprise, however there has since been a number of differing accounts from within the Barcelona inner circle.

Pep Segura's public confirmation that he was 200 percent sure Neymar would stay, just hours before the announcement of the world record deal, looked silly.

Further controversy followed as Pique admitted that he knew the Brazilian was leaving even before the infamous 'Se Queda' post.

Messi's signature

Nobody within the club is on message with regards to the 30-year-old's renewal.
Bartomeu has insisted that there is a signature present from Messi's father whilst others are unsure if there is even a deal.

It is a disorganised mess and is far from sorted.

The ill-fated pursuit of Coutinho

Undoubtedly the most striking detail about this transfer saga was just how juxtaposed the narratives emanating from both teams were.

Of course a club is likely to position themselves in a good light to their own local media, but Barcelona's repeated positive comments on Coutinho's possible arrival when Liverpool were refusing to do business were rather bizarre.

The former Internazionale playmaker remained at Anfield and Robert Fernandez's suggestion that Liverpool had asked for 200 million euros was then flatly denied by the Reds as Barcelona once again struggled to conjure up any positive PR.