Why Barca say they have to let go of Messi

Without Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s players’ wage bill would be 95% of its income. With him, it would balloon to 110% and breach La Liga’s financial rules, said Barcelona president Joan Laporta explaining why the club and its greatest player have decided to sever an almost 21-year relationship that began on a paper napkin; one that helped the club win 35 trophies including 10 La Liga and four Champions League titles, one where Messi scored 672 goals in 778 games.

The decision was announced on Thursday to give Barcelona and Messi time to secure their futures before the August 31 transfer deadline, said Laporta at a press conference broadcast live on the club’s YouTube channel on Friday.

Squarely blaming this on the inheritance of loss — at one point during the nearly 90-minute interaction he called it disgraceful, at another calamitous — made worse by numbers that were apparently the double of what had been projected when he took charge last March, Laporta said Barcelona had two deals with Messi but both were rejected by La Liga. “At some point with a clear head, you have to say enough,” said Laporta.

Among the offers after two months of negotiations was one where Messi would be signed for two years but paid over five, said Laporta. Another was a five-year deal, he said. Messi and his negotiators, of whom father Jorge is the first among equals, were okay with both, the latter reportedly with a 50% pay cut. “We wanted him to stay. Leo wanted to stay even when our offer was inferior to other clubs,” said Laporta. “We even shook hands but could not formalise the agreement,” he said.

Before each season, La Liga puts a cap on what a club can spend based on its financial health. According to reports, Barcelona’s losses last term were nearly $590m; their liabilities, as per their annual general meeting, almost $1.39 billion. Laporta said he had expected losses to be around 200m euros (around $236m) but audits, reports of which have just come in, put it around 400m euros (almost $472m). In other words, Barcelona’s salary limit would be less than one-third of what it was in 2019-20. In 2020, a year hit by Covid-19, Barcelona’s revenue fell by 15% from 2019 to around $873m. That meant, as per La Liga rules, they would need to earn or save around $235m more through players’ sales or wage cuts for the Messi deal to go through.

Barcelona’s spending ratio has been set at 4:1, said Laporta. “If we spend 25 million, we need to earn 100 million.” With a number of high wage earners such as Antoine Griezmann, Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique still on the rolls that is easier said than done.

Barcelona could still have signed Messi, a free player since June, had they agreed to La Liga getting $3.2 billion from a US investment fund. In return, the fund will take 10% of the profit and have 10% stake in any new La Liga venture. Barcelona’s share would be around $335 million of which 15% could be spent on wages. That would have helped them spend nearly $50 million more on players.

Barcelona’s problem with this deal — not wanting to mortgage the club’s future for 50 years was a recurring theme in Laporta’s comments — is that it values La Liga at approximately $28.7 billion for half-a-century. The club feels that is selling the league short — “paying a third of the value La Liga has, said Laporta — and could oppose the agreement that has been passed by Comision Delegada (executive committee) but needs ratification of the league’s general assembly.

“We can’t accept the money now (to keep Messi) that will affect us in the future,” said Laporta. “The club comes first.”

Messi’s departure should help Barcelona sign new players and formalise the deals with Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay and Emerson, said Laporta. “But ideally our salary bill should be around 65-70% of our total income. So we have a lot of work to do,” said Laporta.

With Manchester City signing Jack Grealish in a British record $130 million deal and reportedly being keen on Harry Kane, Messi’s likely destination could be Paris St Germain. Things could still change before Deadline Day — no Bareclona player has spoken on Messi’s departure and Laporta didn’t detail farewell plans. But for now Barcelona are looking at life without him; the club’s 121-year history being split into, in Laporta words, “before Leo and after Leo.”