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Just when you thought the contract saga between Lionel Messi and Barcelona was finally settled, here’s another twist.
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A report from the Spanish newspaper Mark claimed that Messi “has never been so far from renewing his contract with Barcelona” with the problems separating the parties said to be “irreversible”.
Messi returned to Barcelona earlier this week, when it became clear to Messi and Barcelona president Joan Laporta that a solution could not be found to sign the 34-year-old for the coming season. It’s an unexpected turnaround after the parties apparently struck a new five-year deal (with a significant pay cut) last month.
UPDATE: Barcelona confirmed in a statement that the talks have broken down and that Messi will leave:
Despite having reached an agreement between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi and with the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (regulations of the Spanish Liga).
Faced with this situation, Lionel Messi will not remain linked to FC Barcelona. Both sides deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the Club ultimately could not be granted.
Barça would like to wholeheartedly thank the player for his contribution to the growth of the institution and wish him the best in his personal and professional life.
So why this sudden change of mind? A possibility…
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Barcelona and La Liga still at odds over Super League
La Liga president Javier Tebas has reportedly given Laporta a choice in recent days: to keep Messi (perhaps with a little leeway to save the player despite the club’s increasingly strained finances) by forgoing the European Super League (yes, they are still engaged in the project, with Real Madrid and Juventus), or continue with the Super League and lose Messi.
Barcelona’s involvement in the Super League plot also stands in the way of a 10% La Liga investment sale. The deal aims to keep the league and its clubs afloat financially. Real Madrid have released their own statement criticizing La Liga’s handling of the case, moments after Barcelona announced Messi’s departure.
The timing seems to indicate that all of these pieces are part of the same story.
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Messi leaving Barcelona changes everything, for everyone
There is hardly a transfer offer or contract currently in the works that will not be affected by the ripple effects if Messi actually leaves Barcelona.
For starters, everything Manchester City have done and plan to do is put on hold. The deal to sign Jack Grealish was already done by the time Messi news broke, but Harry Kane, who has yet to report to Tottenham Hotspur for the preseason in hopes of forcing a move to Manchester City? Sorry, please wait.
This means that any business Tottenham hoped to do, with the potential funds from this sale, is currently closed. Regardless of which clubs Tottenham may have discussed signing one of their players, this is another club whose plans are currently on hold.
With the financial situation of world football in a perilous place these days, less than a handful of clubs have all the power to unlock and trigger a furious final month of the transfer window, so everyone is waiting. The only problem is that they (Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, in this case) now unexpectedly find themselves waiting for a man even taller and more powerful than them.
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