Despite the fact that Barcelona and Lionel Messi have reached an agreement and have stated their intention to sign a new contract today, this is not possible due to financial restrictions imposed by La Liga. On the night of August 6, the image of Messi in the first team was removed on Barca's homepage.
Messi will leave Barcelona due to the current situation, according to an announcement on the club's homepage. Both parties are disappointed that the club's and player's wishes were not fulfilled. Barca would like to thank the player for his commitment and wish him the best of luck in his future career.
By the time the above announcement popped up on the Barca homepage, a number of prestigious sports newspapers in Spain appeared to have foreseen the major turning point. "Messi deal turned upside down: Renewal is almost impossible," according to an article in the Marca newspaper. According to this newspaper, Barca would struggle to keep "El Pulga," and President Joan Laporta was well aware of the situation.
The expiry date of Messi's contract with Barcelona was July 1, but the two sides quickly reached an oral agreement on an extension, despite the 34-year-old striker agreeing to a salary cut in half. M10 was supposed to wear Barca's shirt for at least three more seasons before moving to the United States to dedicate the rest of his career. Messi could become Barca's global ambassador after he retires.
On August 5, Barca was meant to sign Messi's agent, but the La Liga side caused problems when President of LaLiga - Javier Tebas obligated Barca to reduce the wage budget. Noticeably, Barca's salary capital is far in excess of La Liga's regulations, to the point where even accepting Messi's annual salary of only 20 million euros after taxes is insufficient to save the squad's predicament. Apart from persuading Messi to lower his salary, Barca needed to sell high-paid players quickly but had yet to come up with a solution.
Messi also notified Barca of his decision to say goodbye in summer 2020, but former president Josep Maria Bartomeu was adamant about keeping him for another year. Even so, Messi's 21-year association with Barcelona has come to an end with this latest announcement. Messi won 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League cups, and numerous other individual honors while wearing the Barcelona jersey. He also possesses six Golden Balls.
Messi is prepared to sign with any team that can treat him well in the current predicament. In fact, M10 will be unable to play in the Joan Gamper Cup friendly match between Barcelona and Juventus on August 8, missing out on the chance to face Cristiano Ronaldo.
Following the announcement of Messi's circumstances, the Barca homepage announced that President Joan Laporta will hold a press conference to respond to questions from the media about the Messi affair.
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