Lionel Messi’s Barcelona contract is due to expire on June 30th and yet, as that day
moves closer, there’s no news on whether he’ll sign an extension.
So, what’s going on?
Currently, Messi is in Brazil as part of Argentina’s Copa America squad and if there are no new
developments, he will be a free agent on July 1st.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been clear that he wants Messi to stay, but has
acknowledged that the club’s financial woes mean that they cannot afford to keep paying
his current wages.
Laporta gets on very well with Messi and with his agent-father Jorge. This is to contrast
with the awful relationship that both Messis had with Laporta’s predecessor Josep Maria
Bartomeu, whose broken promises led to the player trying to force an exit from the Nou
Camp 12 months ago.
But the big issue is over what Barcelona can afford to offer. Given the club’s huge debts,
said to be in excess of €1bn, the €100 million including taxes and bonuses each year
that Messi earns each year is no longer feasible and Laporta has repeatedly said that Messi’s
would be offered a proposal “within the club’s possibilities”.
Sources have said that this would mean a contract that pays him significantly less over the
next few years but makes up for this by promising earnings from the Nou Camp long after his
retirement as a player. They can also offer more symbolic incentives — another
speaker at Sunday’s AGM said that the idea of erecting a statue of Messi outside the
Nou Camp was under consideration by the board.
But if he doesn’t stay at Barcelona, then where will he go? That’s not clear, either.
Last summer, Messi’s options had seemed to be either Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain,
with the two Gulf state-backed clubs the only ones realistically able to match his demands.
Twelve months on, there seems little chance of City coming back into the picture, particularly
with the news that they’re bidding for Tottenham’s Harry Kane.
Pep Guardiola has also stated very clearly that he hopes Messi finishes his career at
Camp Nou, so that rules a move to England out.
PSG could be marginally more likely though. “Messi is at the end of his contract and
all clubs have the right to talk to him and recruit him for next season,” PSG president
Nasser Al-Khelaifi told L’Equipe in early June.
This won’t just be about money, though. Messi is not just concerned with the size
of his annual salary, but also Barcelona’s ability to compete. Laporta has made building
a better, more balanced squad a key part of his bid to persuade Messi to put pen to paper
and – in addition to Sergio Aguero – the signing of the exciting Memphis Depay will
be encouraging.
The question of where this money is coming from, though, and how another Messi contract
might be funded is an interesting one.
A recent AGM saw Barca’s fans vote in favour of a board proposal to borrow a further €525
million, but this money in theory is to go towards fixing the club’s finances, not
new players or contracts.
In theory squad players like Martin Braithwaite, Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet,
Junior Firpo and Miralem Pjanic could be moved out — but this will mean finding new clubs
willing to cover their current substantial wages.
Long-serving Catalan players Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto
have already been asked to take “voluntary” pay-cuts on their salaries. Other big earners
including Dembele, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Griezmann could conceivably be put on the
market, too.
A big factor, also, is La Liga’s strict financial fair play rules. In mid-June Laporta
appeared to be asking for some leniency in how these FFP rules are applied to Barca next
season.
“The Spanish league has a much more rigorous financial fair play than other leagues,”
Laporta told Spanish daily La Vanguardia. “I hope everyone uses common sense and they
can allow us, if we reach a final agreement, to register Leo.”
That’s big if. It remains possible that Messi’s contract renewal could be announced
before his current deal ends on June 30. One source who knows him and his family well recently
told The Athletic that it remained unthinkable for Messi to move anywhere else. There are
good reasons for all involved to make it look like they are making a huge effort to come
to an agreement, and Laporta keeps repeating that he is doing everything within his means
to persuade the club’s greatest ever player to stay.
But the clock is still ticking and time is running out.