Messi needs to take pay cut to stay at Barcelona: La Liga chief – Report

The FC Barcelona management is trying hard to off load a number of players in order to offer their talisman Lionel Messi a new deal. Barcelona’s current financial woes has led to this situation and the salary cap in La Liga has made the situation really tough for the Catalan club.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has spoken on the issue and he feels Messi will have to take a big pay cut to stay with his childhood team, whom he had inspired to greatness in the Spanish league and in UEFA Champions League from the late 2000s to early 2010s.

Messi became a free agent on July 1 after his contract with FCB expired, but the club has still not given up on giving him a two-year deal. Notably, Messi’s last contract was worth more than EUR500 million over four years, including signing-on fees, bonuses, and his weekly salary. Tebas says Messi must take a substantial pay cut to remain at Camp Nou.

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“He won’t be able to sign [for Barcelona] on the previous conditions, that’s impossible,” Sky Sports quoted Tebas. “I don’t think any European club would be able to pay that amount.

Messi is currently playing in Copa America with his national team and he has led them to the final, where they will face arch rivals Brazil on Sunday. This is Messi’s fourth continental final and he would hope to win a major trophy with La Albiceleste for the first time.

Tebas also warned Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain against the signing of Messi as they would be unable to match the Argentine’s previous salary.

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“Manchester City have lost EUR270m [during the Covid-19 pandemic] so obviously they wouldn’t even consider signing Messi [on his old salary]. If they do, it will be the financial doping. I’ve told [Pep] Guardiola this too. I’ve directly said that to him, ‘would you have won as many titles without as much economic doping?’

The Camp Nou team are unable to register any of the players they have signed this summer because of the salary limit imposed on the club, however, which is stopping them from confirming a deal for Messi, as per Goal.com. Barca’s salary cap before the pandemic was over EUR600m, and it has dropped to EUR347m this year.

(With ANI inputs)