There has been a radical turnaround in the case of Lionel Messi’s renewal with Barcelona, with recent information being that the deal was close to being announced, yet a blockbuster revelation has suggested that Barcelona will now not be able to re-sign the Argentine.
Joan Laporta is aware of the situation and the fact that Messi is further from renewing with the Catalan club from every before.
The reality is that several levels of the club are aware of the situation and are exploring how best to communicate the result of conversations held on Thursday.
These conversations took place at a meal between the club and Messi’s representatives, but the take-home point that whilst the meeting was cordial, Messi has never been further from renewing his agreement with the club than he is today.
As soon as this decision is officially made, Barcelona’s outlook changes radically with the urgency to reduce their salary bill somewhat lower.
Being able to plan for the 2022/23 season becomes child-play compared to dealing with the fallout of potentially losing Messi, especially after Laporta essentially ran for election on a platform of keeping the club icon in Barcelona.
LaLiga Santander’s fiscal agreement with the CVC investment fund was said to have made things easier for Barcelona, but even then the room to manoeuvre was limited as Los Cules had to balance their wage-bill, which would have left Ronald Koeman with a very threadbare squad going into the new season.
Furthermore, accepting the pay out from the investment fund would have meant Barcelona saying a final goodbye to the Super League, which the club are unprepared to do, leaving us with a situation whereby Barcelona extending Messi’s contract and moving forward with the Super League plans are impossible to do together, but we’re at that point.