There was a moment during Barcelona’s press conference on Saturday when club director Albert Soler started explaining the departure of ‘Lionel Messi’ until he was prompted by the club’s technical secretary Robert Fernandez sat alongside him: ‘You mean Neymar,' he said.
Club officials getting the superstar footballers mixed up was typical of a chaotic summer of transfer dealings at Barcelona. It was also comically ominous.
If this board remains in charge and doesn't smarten up, the next post-transfer market press conference may really be about the departure of Messi.
The Argentinian has still not signed his new contract extension and nothing that he has seen in this window will have convinced him that there is any rush.