Lionel Messi’s dad and his ‘bad advice’ blamed for shock Barcelona transfer U-turn by ex-Real Madrid ace Hugo Sanchez

LIONEL MESSI'S dad and his "bad advice" are the reason behind the Argentine's shock Barcelona transfer U-turn, according to Hugo Sanchez.

The former Real Madrid hero, 62, took a swipe at Jorge Messi, who has been handling negotiations with the Nou Camp side since his son informed them he wanted out.

Messi Jr, 33, was desperate to be let go after failings on the pitch and serious fallouts off it with the club hierarchy.

But after Jorge was unable to reach an agreement in his showdown talks with president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Messi withdrew the request and agreed to stay put for the final year of his contract.

Sanchez, though, reckons a better agent rather than his own dad would have seen Messi get his way.

The 208-goal Los Blancos hero told : "That untimely burofax only strengthened the image of the president of Barcelona and gave him time to weaken Messi's decision.

"Messi has had no choice but to stay at Barcelona due to bad advice from his father and the law firm, because they could have saved that burofax.

"That has caused weakness to his image within the team.

"Coincidentally, Messi had the lawyers who had previously worked with Barcelona, but due to a conflict of interest, the Catalan club changed its strategy."

Jorge coached his son at Grandoli in Rosario - Lionel's first club - but since then has always been in control of Messi's off-field matters, right from when he first moved to Barcelona.

It was Messi Sr that arranged the trial, secretly flew with his son to Catalonia for a trial at Barca then played hard ball to ensure his 13-year-old son was paid around £106,000 per year, even offering him to Real Madrid at one point.

Since they moved to Barcelona nearly 20 years ago, the former supervisor at a metal factory in Rosario has handled all of Messi's dealings - from new contract after new contract to commercial sponsorships to being chief executive of his business and running the charitable foundation.

He is described by  as "thoughtful and calm" but has earned a reputation for being notoriously difficult at the negotiating table.

One source told  he lacked humility, saying: "He can come across as self-important, as you would expect as the dad of the best player in the world.

"Most dads of footballers are, but the way it was described to me, how he acts in meetings with the club over the years has been classless.