Lionel Messi will NOT be signing a new contract with Barcelona, the Catalan club have confirmed, and he’s therefore no longer their player.
The saga about Messi’s potential departure from the Camp Nou has been going on for over a year now. Last summer, he wanted to leave and made his feelings known to the club. His contract had a release clause that would have enabled him to leave for free at the end of each season had he wanted to, but the clause had expired by the time he decided he wanted to exercise it and the club stood firm in their stance he would only be allowed to depart if his standard buyout clause of €700 million was met.
Naturally, no club was willing or able to pay that amount, not even for a player like Messi, and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner stayed put.
Messi’s desire to leave Barcelona last year stemmed from his disagreements with Joseph Maria Bartomeu, the club president at the time, but things took a turn for the better when Joan Laporta later replaced Bartomeu. Laporta openly worked hard on convincing Messi to renew his deal, and it was reported that the Argentina captain had decided to stay.
However, due to the club’s immense financial difficulties and La Liga’s salary cap regulations, they are unable to proceed with signing the new contract with Messi.
Joan Laporta: “Negotiations with Leo Messi have ENDED. We can’t register Messi because of La Liga rules, they’re not flexible with us on salary limit. We had an agreement with Leo but we can’t register him.
Leo will now look at OTHER OPTIONS, we had a deadline”. 🚨 #Messi #FCB pic.twitter.com/jvYtkVjOej
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2021
Messi was a Barcelona first-team player for 16 years, and the central figure of the club’s greatest era. In his time at the Camp Nou, Barcelona won 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey and eight Spanish Super Cup trophies, the Champions League four times, and three FIFA Club World Cups. He was La Liga’s Player of the Year nine times, and the top scorer of the competition in eight seasons.
Naturally, the speculation about the 34-year-old’s future is hot at the moment. Many believed he would only join Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain if he left Barcelona, but City just completed the signing of Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100m and gave him the No.10 shirt. Therefore, PSG seem like the likeliest destination for Messi, but it’s all now in the domain of guesswork.
Barça president Joan Laporta on Messi deal with PSG: “Messi to Paris Saint-Germain and if would I like to see him there? I’d like to see Messi at Barça… ask him, I don’t know about PSG but for sure he has options”. 🚨🇫🇷 #PSG #Messi pic.twitter.com/XnHcRjj7o8
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2021
