Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona despite both parties having reached an agreement over a new contract, the La Liga club said on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of the deal.
Messi, who joined Barca’s youth set-up aged 13, is the club’s all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions.
The Argentina forward was free to negotiate a transfer with other clubs after his deal ran out at the end of June, but Barcelona had always maintained he wanted to stay with the club.
Messi, who has spent his whole career at Barcelona, had been expected to sign a new five-year deal with the Catalan club, which would have included a salary reduction of 50%.
La Liga chief Javier Tebas said last month that Barcelona, who have a total debt of more than 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion), would not be shown any leniency when it comes to obeying the league’s strict financial control rules. read more
The news of Messi’s exit comes a day after La Liga agreed in principle to sell 10% of a newly formed company housing most of its business to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for 2.7 billion euros ($3.2 billion). read more
“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish La Liga regulations),” Barca said in a statement.
“FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.”
MESSI Leave Barcelona
Messi’s last contract, signed in 2017, was the most lucrative in world sport according to a January report in newspaper El Mundo.
The Argentine, who helped Barcelona claim 10 league titles, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups among his haul of 35 trophies, remains without a club ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Questions rise over his future but Messi has long been linked with a move to either French club Paris St Germain or Manchester City, where he would be reunited with his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
Meanwhile, some observers believe Messi’s exit announcement to be a major calling of La Liga’s bluff from Barca. read more
BARCELONA’S FINANCIAL WOES
Barcelona have been struggling to reduce their wage bill to be in line with La Liga’s FFP rules for the 2021-22 season.
La Liga introduced financial control measures in 2013 establishing a maximum amount of money each club can spend on its playing squad and coaching staff each season, conditioned by their income.
Spanish media reported Barca had been in talks with their top-earning players such as vice-captains Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto about reducing their salaries by 40% in return for contract extensions.
Barca had also been trying to sell high-earning players including Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti and Martin Braithwaite but have not yet found suitors for them.
But the club, along with rivals Real Madrid and Serie A’s Juventus are still clinging on to their plans for the European Super League after a court ruled that governing body UEFA terminate disciplinary proceedings against founding members of the breakaway project.
($1 = 0.8448 euros)
