Skip to content
Digital News Alerts

Digital News Alerts

Finger on the pulse

  • Home
  • Games & Gadgets
  • Social Media Sauce
  • Biz & Tech Topics
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Latest
  • Lionel Messi – Barcelona president Joan Laporta says no one bigger than the club; negotiations at end

Lionel Messi – Barcelona president Joan Laporta says no one bigger than the club; negotiations at end

Sarah Jacobson 4 min read

Barcelona president Joan Laporta says the club is not negotiating with Lionel Messi over his contract extension.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said that no one is bigger than the club and negotiations with Lionel Messi are at an end.

6:00 a.m. ET

  • Sam Marsden is a British actor who has starred in

  • Llorens Moises

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said that talks to retain Lionel Messi at the club have come to an end, and that he does not want to create “false optimism” that the issue can be resolved.

Barcelona confirmed on Thursday that Messi, who has been a free agent since his contract ended in June, would not return due to financial difficulties.

– La Liga on ESPN+: Watch live and on-demand games (U.S. only) – Marcotti: Is Messi on his way out of Barcelona? What’s actually going on: Lionel Messi’s departure from Barcelona is causing a stir on social media.

Laporta stated at a press conference on Friday that the “disastrous” circumstances left over from the previous board, as well as LaLiga’s strict expenditure restrictions, had made retaining Messi difficult.

Messi, 34, had agreed to a new five-year deal with Camp Nou, which would have extended his 21-year association with the club, and Laporta claimed the forward is heartbroken that it will not be feasible.

When asked whether the situation might be salvaged, Laporta replied, “I don’t want to create false optimism.” “We were aware of various bids for Messi throughout the course of the talks.” We and [Messi’s camp] both had a time restriction because they needed it. The leagues have begun.

“The talks with Messi have come to an end, leaving us here without a deal due to the pay cap. Leo is dissatisfied since he wanted to remain. We all wanted him to remain, but he, too, is dealing with the reality of what has occurred. A fact that cannot be altered.”

On Friday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta gave a press conference. PAU BARRENA/AFP photo via Getty Images

According to Laporta, the only option to retain Messi would have been to accept the LaLiga agreement presented this week, which would have sold 10% of the league’s operations to investment firm CVC Capital Partners.

When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of LaLiga’s deal with CVC, Laporta said that no one is greater than the club, and that accepting the conditions of the sale may have placed the club in jeopardy in the long run.

He added, “It would not be in Barca’s best interests.” “We were going to get some money, but we don’t believe taking it — and perhaps jeopardizing our [television rights] income for the next 50 years — is something we can do [to retain Messi]. It’s much too dangerous. Players, coaches, and presidents are all subordinate to the club.”

On Twitter, LaLiga president Javier Tebas reacted to Laporta and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s dispute over the establishment of a European Super League.

“You said we [LaLiga] were broke not long ago,” he wrote. “Now that we’re valued at €24.25 billion and [clubs] have access to GROW, you’re concerned about the league’s future revenue, which you’d written off as dead.”

“You know that the CVC deal doesn’t mortgage Barca’s television rights for 50 years; instead, it increases the value of all teams’ television rights, allowing you to MORTGAGE your banks and address the debt issue. That’s how you perceived it just a few hours ago.”

CVC refused to comment, but a person familiar with the transaction claimed the allegations were “totally false” and that CVC “continues to support the initiative.”

Years of mismanagement have contributed to Barcelona’s inability to register Messi, the club’s all-time appearance leader and top goal scorer. Laporta characterized the situation as a “shipwreck” that he inherited from former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

He stated that if Messi were to join Barca, the club’s salary cost would be 110 percent of its income. It will still be 95 percent without Messi, and they have a long way to go to bring it down to the acceptable level of 70 percent.

As a result, Messi was unable to sign a new contract with LaLiga for the next season. Each team in the Spanish league has a spending restriction. Prior to the epidemic, Barca’s revenue was above €600 million, but it dropped to €347 million last season. For the next campaign, further cutbacks are anticipated.

Laporta said that an internal audit had just recently uncovered the real depth of the club’s financial problems, claiming that it was “far worse than anticipated” and that the 2020-21 season would see Barcelona lose €487 million.

After meeting with the first-team players and coach Ronald Koeman at the training field on Friday, the president said that everyone must now work together to take Barca forward in the “post-Messi era.”

“There is sorrow,” he added, “but the players and Ronald are professionals.” They now have the opportunity to demonstrate that their skill can lead Barca to victory.

“It’s time to face the difficulties we’ve set for ourselves and compete in all of the contests we’ve entered. We expect professionalism from our athletes and coaches, and we will provide unwavering support in their quest of greatness.”

Laporta said he was aware Messi had had bids from other clubs, but he didn’t know whether one of them was Paris Saint-Germain, the favorite to acquire the Argentina international.

Despite the club’s dire financial position, Laporta thinks that new players Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, and Emerson Royal will be able to register with LaLiga. He said that they had all agreed to lesser wages and that their circumstances were not similar to Messi’s.

He also refused to rule out making further additions before the conclusion of the month’s transfer window.

Related Tags

  • messi barcelona contract
  • where is lionel messi from
  • messi new contract

Sarah Jacobson

See author's posts

Continue Reading

Previous: Games Inbox: Will Sony make a Game Pass for PS5?
Next: Let’s Talk R-Rated Superhero Movies for a Second

Related Stories

How will Alcide help Rapid7 improve its cloud security offering? cybersecurity kubernetes alcide 12m crunchbasemillertechcrunch
7 min read

How will Alcide help Rapid7 improve its cloud security offering?

Dragoneer Investment Group is a leading growth-oriented investment firm spoton smbs series dragoneer azevedotechcrunch
8 min read

Dragoneer Investment Group is a leading growth-oriented investment firm

What investors are saying about SpotOn’s $300m Series F spoton smbs 125m series azevedotechcrunch
8 min read

What investors are saying about SpotOn’s $300m Series F

Trending News

How to Integrate Your IT Department With Other Departments 1

How to Integrate Your IT Department With Other Departments

Sam Altman’s Thoughts on Technology 50m series altman lachy groomloizostechcrunch 2

Sam Altman’s Thoughts on Technology

OpenAI plans to invest in a wide range of AI technologies altman 100m microsoft aicoldeweytechcrunch 3

OpenAI plans to invest in a wide range of AI technologies

Apple’s incredible growth apple 1.8b 1.65b january 1.5b januaryclovermacrumors 4

Apple’s incredible growth

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • About us
© 2022 Digital News Alerts
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT