Paris St Germain midfielder, Ander Herrera has refused to comment on the sweeping debate regarding Lionel Messi’s transfer, but believes Financial Fair Play may stall the Argentine’s move to the French Capital when his contract at Barcelona ends.
Messi, who is drawing close to the expiration of his contract at Camp Nou has reportedly caught the attention of the big money spenders in recent weeks, and his former Barcelona teammate, Neymar had extended a request to the midfielder to join PSG.
PSG are one of the few clubs that could match the Argentine’s sporting and financial ambition, but Herrera doubts that even they could put an agreement in place that would allow them to land the six-time Ballon d’Or winner while adhering to regulations regarding cost management.
“Messi, Neymar and Mbappe together? I don’t know how that would work with Financial Fair Play, but I don’t think so,” Herrera has told El Larguero.
“I respect Barcelona, their coach and Messi so I’m not going to get into this one.”
The Spain international added, with the likes of Angel Di Maria and Marco Verratti already incurring Barca’s wrath by openly discussing supposed interest in Messi: “When everyone at Barca was talking about Neymar, inside and outside the club, we did not like it.
“I’m not going to do something that I don’t like being done to me. I have a lot of respect for Barca, Messi, his coach and his team-mates.
“It is not a strategy. Me, I will not speak about him. I respect those who do it, but I put myself in the shoes of the club in which Messi has evolved.
“If I were I at Barca, I would not like people talking about Messi. It does not seem to me to be a lack of respect, but I will not do it.”
There is a possibility that the mercurial South American midfielder will become available on the open market at some point in the near future. But, Messi will not be making a decision on his future until the end of the season.