Messi leaves Barca

[Highgate]

40 minutes ago, Rev said:

Link doesn't work.

Even if it's true, surely he could have taken a 1 month contract with a local cafe, say, them resigned?

50% of the wage of the previous contract with the same employer I'd imagine.

[AndyinLiverpool]

1 hour ago, RoyMac5 said:

Do you think Messi would be happy to stay in a team that couldn't compete? 

 

Unless they sold more players I presume? They could have Messi and some academy players, bit like us.

Messi might reasonably think that whatever team he plays in has more than a decent chance of competing. There may be miriad reasons why Barcelona can't compete this season but surely the main one is that Messi won't be playing for them.

[Highgate]

45 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

Messi said he wanted to stay. But last year he wanted to leave.

He's probaby caught in two minds. On the one hand Bacelona is his home and has been for the majority of his life. But on the flip side, he probably knows deep down they aren't going to compete and he still has trophies to win left in him.

The 2018-19 Champions League was Barca's last hope of a European title for many years, even had Messi stayed. The club needs a complete reset and this now will be the first step towards that.

He wanted to leave last year because of the presidency of Bartomeu, arguably the most incompetent president/chairman of any football club ever.  He's no longer in charge so the situation is now entirely different, and Messi was now happy to stay, like he explained earlier.  However, Bartomeu's ridiculously expensive signings (Dembele, Coutinho...Griezmann) are still clogging up the squad and nobody wants to take them off Barca's hands.  So effectively, Messi's forced departure is still a legacy of Bartomeu's historic mismanagement.

The reset could have ideally occurred with Messi and without those expensive flops previously mentioned and without Pjanic and a few others.  There is already the bones of a very good young squad there... Fati, Pedri, De Jong, Moriba, Puig, Araujo...all of whom would have benefited from Messi's presence and guidance.  I don't see how Messi leaving, while Dembele and Coutinho remain can be regarded as anything but an unmitigated disaster for Barcelona.

[Rev]

13 minutes ago, Highgate said:

50% of the wage of the previous contract with the same employer I'd imagine.

Yeah I don't suppose it would be so easy.

Especially with his previous with the Spanish authorities.

 

[Igor Igor Whats the Score?]

It’s pathetic. If he loves Barca as much as his tears then play for free. He’s a multi millionaire with more money than he will ever need plus millions in endorsements coming through daily.

[G-Ram]

Its mad how Messi is only a year younger than or manager.  

Yet messi is getting called out for going to play at PSG. Whereas Rooney has gone bald four times and spends his days, sleeping in the managers office & necking gravy in a club tracksuit

[Mostyn6]

11 minutes ago, Igor Igor Whats the Score? said:

It’s pathetic. If he loves Barca as much as his tears then play for free. He’s a multi millionaire with more money than he will ever need plus millions in endorsements coming through daily.

Have you not read this thread? He’s NOT allowed to. 

[Leeds Ram]

3 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

They're in this mess because of the Neymar deal. They sold a worldwide superstar who brought in huge revenues through his own following and made a right hash of replacing him.

If Neymar had stayed at Barca, they wouldn't have shelled out for Dembele, Griezmann or Coutinho. That's over £350m right there.

The Neymar deal left them both weaker from a sporting perspective and from a financial perspective. 

Lionel Messi's wages weren't ever the problem. I mean, it's not a problem for PSG or Juventus to accomodate their equally well-paid superstars, but Barca are the ones who have hit the brick wall despite having a bigger following than the other two. The reason for that is not Lionel Messi.

I'm pretty sure I read an article that highlighted how ronaldo's wage was a problem for Juventus?

[Day]

Possibly some controversial thoughts here, but watching the Messi press conference, he was talking about doing everything he could to stay.

I think it would be fair to say that Messi is a wealthy man.

A man that could easily play out the rest of his career for free and still not have to struggle for a coffee.

If you’re that desperate to stay, you wait, you offer to go down to 5k a week until they are in a position to pay more.

Is Messi not partly responsible for the financial situation being on the contracts he has over the years? He’s certainly not solely responsible.

Let’s be honest, a Ligue 1 title medal would sit on the bottom shelf of his trophy cabinet, so why go, he has nothing to prove now. 

No doubting he could still perform on a Tuesday night in Stoke. I just find it a little bizarre.

I would also love to know how PSG can sign Messi without breaking FFP.

[Andicis]

5 minutes ago, David said:

Possibly some controversial thoughts here, but watching the Messi press conference, he was talking about doing everything he could to stay.

I think it would be fair to say that Messi is a wealthy man.

A man that could easily play out the rest of his career for free and still not have to struggle for a coffee.

If you’re that desperate to stay, you wait, you offer to go down to 5k a week until they are in a position to pay more.

Is Messi not partly responsible for the financial situation being on the contracts he has over the years? He’s certainly not solely responsible.

Let’s be honest, a Ligue 1 title medal would sit on the bottom shelf of his trophy cabinet, so why go, he has nothing to prove now. 

No doubting he could still perform on a Tuesday night in Stoke. I just find it a little bizarre.

I would also love to know how PSG can sign Messi without breaking FFP.

Problem is, even if he offered to play for free, they aren't allowed to register him as a player. The league said no, there was nothing Messi or Barca could have done to make it work.

I do wonder why PSG, I can only assume he wants to play with his mates. Ligue 1 medal with PSG is nothing to brag about, that is for sure. Man City already made a farce out of FFP, the rich oil clubs with teams of lawyers never suffer. 

[Day]

Just now, Andicis said:

Problem is, even if he offered to play for free, they aren't allowed to register him as a player. The league said no, there was nothing Messi or Barca could have done to make it work.

I do wonder why PSG, I can only assume he wants to play with his mates. Ligue 1 medal with PSG is nothing to brag about, that is for sure. Man City already made a farce out of FFP, the rich oil clubs with teams of lawyers never suffer. 

Guess I’ve missed a few things then as this kicked off whilst I had removed Twitter.

Are Barca effectively under an embargo preventing any signings until they sold players?

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, David said:

Guess I’ve missed a few things then as this kicked off whilst I had removed Twitter.

Are Barca effectively under an embargo preventing any signings until they sold players?

I believe so, I think they are at too large a deficit to bring people in and are forced to let people go now. It's the case for loads of clubs this Summer, the European leagues other than the Prem have really struggled badly with covid and these large contracts that were already unsustainable now just are not doable. Can't say I feel sorry for them though.

[Day]

16 minutes ago, Andicis said:

I believe so, I think they are at too large a deficit to bring people in and are forced to let people go now. It's the case for loads of clubs this Summer, the European leagues other than the Prem have really struggled badly with covid and these large contracts that were already unsustainable now just are not doable. Can't say I feel sorry for them though.

Not a great situation then as clubs looking to take on the players they want to offload have a huge advantage in negotiations. 

La Liga clubs have a financial disadvantage compared to Premier League clubs with the TV deals being peanuts in comparison but they’ve handed contracts out like they can.

As you say, hard to feel sorry for them, the same way as it’s hard to find sympathy for our club right now.

 

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, David said:

Not a great situation then as clubs looking to take on the players they want to offload have a huge advantage in negotiations. 

La Liga clubs have a financial disadvantage compared to Premier League clubs with the TV deals being peanuts in comparison but they’ve handed contracts out like they can.

As you say, hard to feel sorry for them, the same way as it’s hard to find sympathy for our club right now.

 

I feel in a way that Real Madrid and Barca were the ones who starting throwing round serious cash, and as such made their own bed so they can lie in it. 

[OoooMarkWright]

33 minutes ago, David said:

Possibly some controversial thoughts here, but watching the Messi press conference, he was talking about doing everything he could to stay.

I think it would be fair to say that Messi is a wealthy man.

A man that could easily play out the rest of his career for free and still not have to struggle for a coffee.

If you’re that desperate to stay, you wait, you offer to go down to 5k a week until they are in a position to pay more.

Is Messi not partly responsible for the financial situation being on the contracts he has over the years? He’s certainly not solely responsible.

Let’s be honest, a Ligue 1 title medal would sit on the bottom shelf of his trophy cabinet, so why go, he has nothing to prove now. 

No doubting he could still perform on a Tuesday night in Stoke. I just find it a little bizarre.

I would also love to know how PSG can sign Messi without breaking FFP.

Messi can’t stay at Barca. They can’t register him as they are well over FFP. There is also a Spanish law that means Messi can’t take more than a 50% wage cut. He can’t play for free or even 4.5k a week! A weird one. Messi did everything he could to stay. I have huge sympathy for him. This is not the way the greatest should bow out of such a great club. 

[Day]

5 minutes ago, enachops said:

Messi can’t stay at Barca. They can’t register him as they are well over FFP. There is also a Spanish law that means Messi can’t take more than a 50% wage cut. He can’t play for free or even 4.5k a week! A weird one. Messi did everything he could to stay. I have huge sympathy for him. This is not the way the greatest should bow out of such a great club. 

Amazing really, so La Liga’s own rules have seen them lose the biggest attraction it had.

Not suggesting they should be given a free pass, but when you look at the likes of PSG who appear to be operating with no financial laws/restrictions at all, does stink a little.

FFP rules looked like they had the best of intentions, but it’s making football less competitive and threatening the existence of others. 

Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 need to get together with UEFA and create some unbendable rules that work across the domestic leagues and European competitions. 

It’s getting silly now.

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, David said:

Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 need to get together with UEFA and create some unbendable rules that work across the domestic leagues and European competitions. 

There is no such thing unfortunately though. The people making the rules for these leagues aren't nearly as intelligent as the legions of finance people at the top clubs, they will always find loop holes. Better to just bin off financial fair play. 

[Day]

1 minute ago, Andicis said:

There is no such thing unfortunately though. The people making the rules for these leagues aren't nearly as intelligent as the legions of finance people at the top clubs, they will always find loop holes. Better to just bin off financial fair play. 

You’re probably right, but part of me wants to believe there is something that can be agreed where clubs can be profitable and competitive. 

Champions League this year will see some games look like an older brother beating up his younger sister with full force.

Just not entertaining to watch until it reaches the later stages where the gap closes.

 

[Andicis]

1 minute ago, David said:

You’re probably right, but part of me wants to believe there is something that can be agreed where clubs can be profitable and competitive. 

Champions League this year will see some games look like an older brother beating up his younger sister with full force.

Just not entertaining to watch until it reaches the later stages where the gap closes.

 

This will never happen, as football is too old and spread across leagues, but I always thought an NFL draft like system would be interesting to see. Would certainly make it fairer. Unfortunately the thing is about clubs being profitable, clubs like Chelsea cheated their way up, pulled the ladder and now they do make profits, but nobody can copy their model. Then they can spend more in perpetuity as success breeds profits. 

[Day]

3 minutes ago, Andicis said:

This will never happen, as football is too old and spread across leagues, but I always thought an NFL draft like system would be interesting to see. Would certainly make it fairer. Unfortunately the thing is about clubs being profitable, clubs like Chelsea cheated their way up, pulled the ladder and now they do make profits, but nobody can copy their model. Then they can spend more in perpetuity as success breeds profits. 

Easy to see how some are becoming disillusioned with the game and finding more interest in start up clubs and non league.

Derby County, once Champions of England, to repeat that success now would take a multi billionaire willing to pile a sickening amount of money into the club.

So we have to work on the assumption that will never happen, so the very best we can ever hope to have is a season in the Europa league.