'Not possible': Telling photo emerges amid Lionel Messi bombshell
A photo of Lionel Messi alongside Neymar and a number of PSG players has sent the rumour mill into overdrive after Barcelona announced the football superstar's departure.
The Spanish club announced the bombshell news on Thursday, citing economic and structural obstacles to the renewal of a previously agreed deal.
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Argentinian superstar 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 per cent.
But Barcelona needed to financially restructure in order to get the deal over the line.
It proved impossible in the end as they failed to reduce their wage bill in order and stay within La Liga's Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
La Liga chief Javier Tebas said last month that Barcelona, who have a total debt of more than $1.18 billion, would not be shown any leniency when it comes to obeying the league's strict financial control rules.
The news of Messi's exit comes a day after La Liga agreed in principle to sell 10 per cent 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).
"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," Barca said in a statement.
"As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.
"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."
Hmmmmm π pic.twitter.com/yerThm7UHG
β Gary Lineker π (@GaryLineker) August 5, 2021
Are Barcelona calling La Liga's bluff?
Manchester City and PSG have emerged as the frontrunners to snare Messi's signature, with a photo of Messi and some PSG players circulating on social media.
However some observers believe Messi's exit announcement is just Barca calling La Liga's bluff.
Some have suggested that threatening to allow the best player in the world to leave the league because of imposed constraints may persuade La Liga to loosen their financial fair play regulations to allow him to stay.
Messi joined Barca's youth set-up at age 13, becoming 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 had tried to leave Barcelona in August 2020, making a formal request for an exit after a break down in his relationship with then president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
But successor Joan Laporta, who presided over the Argentine's rise to greatness, convinced him to stay.
This is an interesting point. La Liga's value as a television product, which is where most of the money is, surely drops significantly without Messi -- and with Ronaldo and Neymar long gone. Same goes for sponsorship.
I think the league cut off its nose to spite its face here. https://t.co/ZrNtYwalBTβ Leander SUBSCRIBE TO SOCCER STORIES Schaerlaeckens (@LeanderAlphabet) August 5, 2021
It really seems like Barcelona wants to call La Liga's bluff with the belief that Messi is bigger than the league. Perhaps La Liga should explore options that designate certain players as beyond the normal rules.
β Patrick Guldan (@GuldanMR) August 5, 2021
π² βHello, is that La Liga?β
βYeah, this is @FCBarcelona calling about... well, your bluff.β#Messiβ Darragh Farrelly (@darraghfar) August 5, 2021
Laporta calling Tebas's bluff?
Tebas basically said, "Messi or Super League, you choose." Obviously (?) Laporta can't choose the Super League over Leo, so he has no leverage. But he says, "I choose the Super League. You deal with not having Messi & us forming the SL." A bluff?π€β Luis Mazariegos (@luism8989) August 5, 2021
After reading FCB's statement, there is a tiny corner in my heart that's trying to convince me that this is all just a bluff from the club and Messi to try and force the league to budge on their strict regulations. And I'm stupid enough to fall for it and still have hope.
β adil (@Barca19stats) August 5, 2021
with AAP
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