Messi and Barca have done this dance so much that he could be wearing a PSG shirt and about to kick off a match and I’d still expect him to run off down the tunnel and go back to Barca.
Their problem was they needed to offload players likr Pjanic, Umtiti, Dembele etc and no-one took them up on it. Signing Aguero and Depay now seem like silly decisions if it means they're letting Messi go, especially as it seems they can't actually sign and play them either
Madrid have attacked La Liga within minutes of the Messi statement from Barcelona. I guess they're well aware that no Messi means a lot less money for the league.
Their problem was they needed to offload players likr Pjanic, Umtiti, Dembele etc and no-one took them up on it. Signing Aguero and Depay now seem like silly decisions if it means they're letting Messi go, especially as it seems they can't actually sign and play them either
Which in itself is pretty dubious, hollowing out your squad so that you can afford one 34 year old player
Barca are skint. The ESL would have saved them. La Liga have done a deal with investment company CVC and Barca will get €200m from that, which would allow them to keep Messi. But in order to get that money, Barca have to sign a contract stating they will never join a super league. Which makes this move a power play - they’re saying to La Liga, “how good is your deal with CVC now that Messi has gone?”
I still think Messi will stay. Him claiming to be leaving is the biggest prick tease in football history.
Joan Laporta (Barca president) is in the midst of a press conference explaining how this mess has happened. He just said that, even without Messi, Barca are 4 times over the salary limit. Absolute madness.
Fair play to La Liga for actually enforcing the rules (if they do).
Fair play to la liga, at 34 as good as he is might be a bit of a gamble. But you never know if he keeps going to a high level til 40 like some one like Figo or Beckham he’ll make his signing on fee back on shirt sales.
If it happens PSG next season will have:
Donnarumma, Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos, Bernat, Herrera, Veratti, Wijnaldum, Neymar, Mbappe, Messi.
Probably the highest wage bill in football history but what a team.
Despite what he said in his press conference you can guarantee that Guardiola has been asking the owner if there's any way they can get him.
If they've got a 120-150m transfer fee plus whatever signing on fee and wages it would take to get Kane, then surely they've got the money to try and get Messi instead.
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Fair play to La Liga for actually enforcing the rules (if they do).
If they've got a 120-150m transfer fee plus whatever signing on fee and wages it would take to get Kane, then surely they've got the money to try and get Messi instead.