A former FC Barcelona star has revealed that Lionel Messi made jokes in the dressing room until a certain moment when everything changed.
Messi's marriage with Barca came to a screeching halt in August 2021, after the club had promised to hand him a new deal following the expiry of his contract.
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The news came as a shock to many football fans across the globe, as the president of the Spanish giants, Joan Laporta, explained that the club could no longer afford the Argentina superstar due to their poor financial state.
Former Barca star Sergino Dest has now revealed that it was during the period of uncertainty before his non-deal was confirmed that Messi stopped playing with a smile on his face.
Dest, who joined Barca in 2020, has told SPORT of the greatest teammate that he has worked alongside: "Messi, of course. You see him on YouTube, in video games... and suddenly he's there, in front of you.
"There was a good atmosphere in the dressing room the first year, he made jokes... then that changed and that feeling of fun was lost a bit."
Messi, who wept uncontrollably during his farewell speech to the Blaugrana, later revealed that he was hurt by his departure from the Catalan giants.
This isn't the first time Dest has spoken of the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, with the now-PSV Eindhoven star having previously said his biggest regret was the fact that he did not get enough time to play with the 37-year-old.
"With Messi, you've got to run because then he'll give it to you. Unfortunately, it didn't happen more often because for the first couple of months, you've got to understand him, and then he left," Dest told The Athletic in September.
"I had felt like (if he stayed) the next season, I would have had an even better relationship with him."
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