Faus: Messi, Neymar or Suarez could leave Barcelona

The Catalan says that the Blaugrana would be powerless to prevent one of the star trio departing if they wanted to accept the bigger salaries on offer elsewhere

Barcelona economic vice-president Javier Faus has conceded that the club could lose Lionel Messi, Neymar or Luis Suarez to richer rivals such as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 51-year-old Catalan says that the Blaugrana have every intention of keeping the prolific attacking trio together for the foreseeable future but conceded that the Liga leaders are not in a position to the match the salaries now on offer at the likes of Stamford Bridge and the Parc des Princes.

"We can no longer pay the most in terms of wages," Faus told German publication Handelsblatt. "That's now Chelsea and PSG.

"You have to understand that players [in Spain] always compare their net pay to those of the Premier League or the Bundesliga, who have pushed costs up dramatically.

"It will be a challenge but we want to avoid letting Messi, Neymar or Suarez go.

"But if a club has the potential to take them away because of their chequebook, then they will go.

"The players have a very short career and are entitled to charge what other clubs can pay for their services."

Faus, of course, infamously clashed with Messi in December 2013 when he claimed that the Argentina international had demanded a pay rise.

The diminutive forward denied that accusation and countered by stating that the Blaugrana director "does not know anything about football".

However, despite the very public spat, Faus insists that the pair now enjoy a mutually beneficial working relationship.

"Messi is right: I do not understand football," he added. "It was just a misunderstanding that we clarified with his father and him.

"Then, we agreed a new contract and now we have a kind of partnership: we help him increase his market value and he helps us to project the Barca brand. "