Barcelona president Joan Laporta has debunked reports circulating in the media that he asked Lionel Messi to play for free.

Laporta admitted the prospect was raised before Messi left for PSG earlier this season.

But he has since told TV3: “I want this to be clear. In a radio show, I was told: ‘If Messi could have stayed for free?’ For free … I don’t know if it would have been possible, but I understand that it could have been.

“And for a while I was like, well, it could have been. But I never asked Messi to play for free and in that Messi is right because, other than that, he is the best player in the world.

“We knew he had a big offer and that was nonsense. Anyway, it had to come from him, not from me. I never said that and a controversy was born which is distorted at the source.”