By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Barcelona says Lionel Messi will not be staying at the club “because of financial and structural obstacles”.
Messi, 34, has been a free agent since 1 July when his contract expired.
He agreed a new deal on reduced wages with club two weeks later, but it was dependent on Barca selling players to afford his salary.
“Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled,” the club said.
With the 34-year-old landing in the Catalan capital last night, an official announcement on a new contract spanning five years, which contains the option to terminate in 2023, was expected some time this evening.
Earlier today, though, his father and representative Jorge met with club officials and talks seem to have hit a brick wall.
Yesterday, it was reported that investment fund CVC had acquired a 10%, $3.2bn stake in La Liga of which Barcelona would receive around 10% to get the Messi deal over the line despite president Javier Tebas’ previous remarks.
“No, I won’t [turn a blind eye] for Messi, it’s impossible. There are many workers [at La Liga] and in the economic control [department] as well,” he said a fortnight ago, regarding Barca’s attempt to balance the books and navigate a strict salary cap.
“This is a right that the clubs have and we have to safeguard the integrity of La Liga.
“We often have to explain [the economic controls] to agents and players because they don’t know about it or think clubs are deceiving them, and we’ve had to explain it in recent years,” he finished.
However if Barcelona accept the money, they effectively kiss goodbye to hopes of joining the failed European Super League that Laporta has denied to wash his hands of, and spanish paper MARCA says that “several levels of the club already know [of the deadlock in Messi’s contract talks] and are exploring how to communicate the result of these conversations.”
One thing is for certain, there is never a dull moment wherever FC Barcelona and their chaotic business affairs are concerned.
And at present, the chances of Messi leading the team in the Joan Gamper trophy on Sunday against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus, and speaking post-match on his ambitions for 2021/2022, seem slim to none at this moment in time.
Aged 13 Messi joined Barca’s famed La Masia academy in 2000 from Argentine side Newell’s Old Boys and made his senior debut aged 16 in 2004.
He has gone on to make 778 appearances for the club, scoring 672 goals, including 120 Champions League goals (second behind Cristiano Ronaldo), and a record 474 La Liga goals.
He has collected the European Golden Shoe award for the continent’s top scorer on six occasions.