Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has hailed Lionel Messi as the greatest player in history after he became La Liga’s record scorer.
Messi claimed a hat-trick in Barca’s 5-1 win over Sevilla, surpassing Telmo Zarra’s 251 in the process, and Bartomeu told reporters after the match that as far as he and his fellow Catalans are concerned, no one can better the Argentine.
“He’s a spectacular, great, great player. I run out of adjectives to describe the best player in the world and in history,” Bartomeu said, AS reports.
“He’s shown it and he’s still young and can score more goals. We have years to enjoy Messi.
“I think his career will end here. He has a contract with us and he’s happy and content. He will want to continue but there are non-sporting reasons we don’t like and we will defend him in all areas.
“There is talk of financial investigations. Which player hasn’t had them?
“Here in Barcelona and in Catalonia, yes, he is the best ever. Outside, they talk about issues I don’t like.
“We are very happy with what he has done today. We were amazed and we kneel before him.”
