Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has hit out at his former club over the departure of captain Lionel Messi who has joined French club Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

Messi had been expected to stay at the Camp Nou and sign a new contract but has moved on after the Catalans confirmed he could not stay on “because of financial and structural obstacles.”

Stoichkov told TUDN he was saddened to see Messi goes and took aim at president Joan Laporta for his role in the Argentine’s exit, as reported by Diario AS.

“It touched my heart when Leo gave my children t-shirts, when my granddaughter was born he also gave her a t-shirt. I have things about him in my house, in my museum,” he said. “Seeing him now with this image, with another shirt, is different. I see it is very strange that people who promised, people who touched their hearts … ‘I am going to make it possible’, ‘I want to’, ‘I am’, but in the end the lie has become very big.”