Bartomeu regrets not rebuilding after Liverpool, says he'll run for Barcelona president again

It won't come as a surprise for many Barcelona fans to hear that Josep Maria Bartomeu has regrets about the time he spent as president at the Camp Nou.

The ex-president of the club, having been removed from the club in disgrace, now admits to wishing he had started to change things as soon as the Blaugrana fell to their humiliating Champions League defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

"Not assessing things after the Liverpool loss was a mistake," Bartomeu confessed to Esport3 "We had to have a generational change.

"I listened to the players and I was wrong. We were at our limit financially and then the pandemic caught us all by surprise."

Bartomeu oversaw a number of transfers in his last few years at the club that didn't exactly go to plan, as well as a failed attempt to sign Kylian Mbappe.

"His [Mbappe's] signing was on the table," Bartomeu said, before passing the blame, "but the coaches preferred [Ousmane] Dembele because they wanted a player who could open up the pitch.

"Some of those we signed haven't met expectations. There were players who cost a lot of money, but these things happen in football. When these two players [Dembele and Philippe Coutinho] were signed, they were applauded by everyone.

"Coutinho came because [Andres] Iniesta was leaving. He was the Premier League's best player. Dembele came because of Neymar's exit.

"As for [Antoine] Griezmann, the coaches asked for him and insisted on his signing for a year, they thought he was essential to bring in because Luis Suarez was injured a lot that season. He was a different forward, a global star, and a team player."

Lionel Messi's Barcelona exit over the summer has left the club in an even more troubled situation than they had already been in, but was the consequence of mismanagement by Bartomeu's board over a long period of time.

"His departure has been a problem," Bartomeu said. "We're a buying club, not sellers.

"I fought a lot in the summer of 2020 so that he'd continue, and now that he wanted to stay he has had to leave. I couldn't allow Messi to go to a Champions League rival.

"He's different to Neymar, [Luis] Figo or Rivaldo. It's obvious that he was the highest paid player in the world and by a distance. I agreed a two-year renewal with him in July 2020, but then everything broke down. We'll have to ask Messi why."

Before wrapping up, Bartomeu confirmed the news that not many Barcelona supporters will want to hear, and he hasn't finished with the club just yet.

"I will present myself for elections again," Bartomeu said. "I have spent 12 seasons with the club, with [Joan] Laporta, [Sandro] Rosell and then as president myself.

"As a cule it's worth it. It was changed by COVID. From then it was a poisoned chalice."

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