The brother of Lionel Messi, Matias, has taken a swipe at Barcelona, claiming “no one knew” the club before the Argentina captain played there and ruling out a return to the Camp Nou for the World Cup winner.

Matias Messi answered questions from fans on his son’s twitch account regarding Messi and Barca but the comments have since been removed.

ESPN contacted Lionel Messi’s representatives and they have distanced themselves from Matias Messi’s remarks, stating that “they are exclusively the individual and personal opinion of Matías, which does not have to be or coincide with that of Leo or that of other relatives, friends or people close to him.”

Messi, 35, spent 20 years at Barcelona and helped the club win 35 trophies.

Despite agreeing a contract extension, Barcelona were mired in a financial crisis and could not retain their all-time goalscorer, a decision that prompted Messi to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2021 as a free agent.

“Barcelona began to be known because of Messi because before, no one knew it, they knew [Real] Madrid… That they would [re]pay him like that is not good,” Matias Messi said.