There is a big part of this move to PSG which does feel sad.
I’ve never liked seeing ‘one club men’ leaving at the end of their career and then just going to one other club to see out the remaining 5% of their time. It blots the story, somewhat.
Similar to when Steven Gerrard joined LA Galaxy after spending his whole life at Liverpool. What was the point?
The romantic in me would have preferred for Messi to head back to Newell’s, instead of soulless money club like PSG.
The best player in the World can get top dollar. It is what it is, but the best player in the World is going to play for the team that pays him top dollar ultimately. If we are going to start feeling sorry for him, we have our priorities wrong.
The best player in the World can get top dollar. It is what it is, but the best player in the World is going to play for the team that pays him top dollar ultimately. If we are going to start feeling sorry for him, we have our priorities wrong.
He doesn't need any more money.
He could go and play 3 more years where he wants to play. He could play for free and still be worth £100ms. The move to PSG is greed, plain and simple.
Isn't this just sort of all bullshit now though? Messi is 34 years old and he's worth nearly £300 million. His most recent contract was worth £470 million across the four years. I can understand him leaving because he wants to get paid what he thinks he's worth, but the waterworks and the narrative that he's been forced out of Barcelona is a bit daft. If he really, really wanted to stay couldn't he just sign a deal for say £50,000 a week, take home £2.6m for the year and sit on the massive piles of money he already has for the rest of his life?
They can't sign him even for free as they are still above their wage limit
But they can if they remove other salaries from their payroll, like Coutinho. Not easy to do, but still doable. He's not been banned from the club or anything. Barce along with Real have been controlling the flow of TV money to the teams they dub lesser for years now, frankly them not being able to pay a player £1m a week as a result of them siphoning off as much money as possible and still spunking it up the wall is a good thing for football
I don’t know what percentage of his money comes from wages, but it’s far from 100%. His sponsors/ image rights would still be rolling in no matter what club he plays for.
Isn't this just sort of all bullshit now though? Messi is 34 years old and he's worth nearly £300 million. His most recent contract was worth £470 million across the four years. I can understand him leaving because he wants to get paid what he thinks he's worth, but the waterworks and the narrative that he's been forced out of Barcelona is a bit daft. If he really, really wanted to stay couldn't he just sign a deal for say £50,000 a week, take home £2.6m for the year and sit on the massive piles of money he already has for the rest of his life?
Sorry but I think that's a bit oversimplifying the whole situation. I don't know if it's true but I saw on a Chinese site just now that Messi already had agreed to take a 50% pay cut leaving his wage level similar to Griezmann's? Well if that's true, I think Messi did try his best. The values of Griezmann and other Barcelona players can bring to the club both on and off the pitch can't be compared to Messi's. If I were Messi, even if I love this club so much, I still would be thinking why would I accept a salary less than Griezmann's/Dembele's? Not to mention 50k per week which I think is really ridiculous (sorry again!) A lower or say unreasonable salary compared to his peers' would have a series of negative effects on his mentality, performances and status within the squad and thus create a lot of complicated problems. That's why I always think the salary structure is one of the most important things not just in a football club but all kinds of companies.
If the club asked every player to take a 50% pay cut to resolve the problem and keep Messi, I don't think they would succeed either. Griezmann and co would simply refuse.
So in my opinion there is only one way to end this issue and that is Messi leaving. The club created a salary structure that they couldn't afford in the long term so they should be the ones to blame, not Messi.
The thing is though, I'm completely fine with that. I'm fine with Messi leaving because Barce can't afford to pay him. Footballers do that every day, from George Dobson to Michael Ballack to Lyle Taylor, players walk out at the end of their contracts for better ones constantly and it's fine. What I'm not having though is the narrative that is being pushed that Messi would have done anything to stay at his beloved Barce but that goddamn La Liga wouldn't let it happen so he has to leave. The quote on the BBC is 'Messi "did everything possible" to stay but Barca couldn't agree a new deal "because of La Liga". Untrue. He doesn't have to leave. He has enough money for several lifetimes and he's choosing to leave his club over money reasons, just like everyone else does. Which again, is fine, but the tears and the recriminations and the 'what a shames' are just not landing with me when this is only happening because a club paid a bloke £1m a week to play football and now they can't afford to do it anymore and he's having none of it. I don't expect him to play for free but I could do without the histrionics that are going with that refusal as if the world has conspired to force a man and his beloved club impossibly apart.
If I was him (hard to imagine!) I would go and play for Newell’s for a season and hope that Barca sort themselves out so I can return next season or the season after.
Ultimately this is an act to treat the fans as mugs. Messi is leaving because Barca can no longer afford him and it isn't Messi's fault or Barca's fault but La Liga's fault. La Liga seems to be acting correctly as the model in its league is not sustainable. But blame them and not greed.
I don’t know what percentage of his money comes from wages, but it’s far from 100%. His sponsors/ image rights would still be rolling in no matter what club he plays for.
Exactly. I think Ronaldo’s income from Instagram ads is something ridiculous like £7m a year.
Looks like this is Part 3 of Barcelona's plan to remove their wage cap:
Lionel Messi's dramatic Barcelona exit appears to have plenty of twists to come yet, with the Catalans alleging Paris Saint-Germain cannot sign the Argentine icon due to their own financial woes.
Lawyers at the Spanish club have filed a complain to the European Court of Appeals, stating the Parisians should be stopped in their pursuit of Messi based on financial data.
Messi confirmed in a teary press conference that he will be leaving Barcelona this summer after a lifetime at the club, and is now finalising terms with PSG.
Part 1 was the chairman blaming La Liga for not signing Messi and saying a deal had been agreed.
Part 2 was wheeling out Messi to cry on camera about how much he wants to still play for Barcelona.
I don’t know what percentage of his money comes from wages, but it’s far from 100%. His sponsors/ image rights would still be rolling in no matter what club he plays for.
Exactly. I think Ronaldo’s income from Instagram ads is something ridiculous like £7m a year.
And the rest. He earns more from instagram (over £40m last year apparently) than he does from his Juventus salary.
Isn't this just sort of all bullshit now though? Messi is 34 years old and he's worth nearly £300 million. His most recent contract was worth £470 million across the four years. I can understand him leaving because he wants to get paid what he thinks he's worth, but the waterworks and the narrative that he's been forced out of Barcelona is a bit daft. If he really, really wanted to stay couldn't he just sign a deal for say £50,000 a week, take home £2.6m for the year and sit on the massive piles of money he already has for the rest of his life?
Sorry but I think that's a bit oversimplifying the whole situation. I don't know if it's true but I saw on a Chinese site just now that Messi already had agreed to take a 50% pay cut leaving his wage level similar to Griezmann's? Well if that's true, I think Messi did try his best. The values of Griezmann and other Barcelona players can bring to the club both on and off the pitch can't be compared to Messi's. If I were Messi, even if I love this club so much, I still would be thinking why would I accept a salary less than Griezmann's/Dembele's? Not to mention 50k per week which I think is really ridiculous (sorry again!) A lower or say unreasonable salary compared to his peers' would have a series of negative effects on his mentality, performances and status within the squad and thus create a lot of complicated problems. That's why I always think the salary structure is one of the most important things not just in a football club but all kinds of companies.
If the club asked every player to take a 50% pay cut to resolve the problem and keep Messi, I don't think they would succeed either. Griezmann and co would simply refuse.
So in my opinion there is only one way to end this issue and that is Messi leaving. The club created a salary structure that they couldn't afford in the long term so they should be the ones to blame, not Messi.
The thing is though, I'm completely fine with that. I'm fine with Messi leaving because Barce can't afford to pay him. Footballers do that every day, from George Dobson to Michael Ballack to Lyle Taylor, players walk out at the end of their contracts for better ones constantly and it's fine. What I'm not having though is the narrative that is being pushed that Messi would have done anything to stay at his beloved Barce but that goddamn La Liga wouldn't let it happen so he has to leave. The quote on the BBC is 'Messi "did everything possible" to stay but Barca couldn't agree a new deal "because of La Liga". Untrue. He doesn't have to leave. He has enough money for several lifetimes and he's choosing to leave his club over money reasons, just like everyone else does. Which again, is fine, but the tears and the recriminations and the 'what a shames' are just not landing with me when this is only happening because a club paid a bloke £1m a week to play football and now they can't afford to do it anymore and he's having none of it. I don't expect him to play for free but I could do without the histrionics that are going with that refusal as if the world has conspired to force a man and his beloved club impossibly apart.
Exactly, woe is me, they've paid me too much for years and then paid others too much when I've whinged about not being competitive after Champions League exits.
Between them Messi and Barcelona have completely brought this on themselves and then are holding a press conference to cry and blame La Liga.
The best player in the World can get top dollar. It is what it is, but the best player in the World is going to play for the team that pays him top dollar ultimately. If we are going to start feeling sorry for him, we have our priorities wrong.
He doesn't need any more money.
He could go and play 3 more years where he wants to play. He could play for free and still be worth £100ms. The move to PSG is greed, plain and simple.
Depends how much money he sucks out of Qatar and pumps it into Argentina. He could do more but then he could also choose to do nothing.
The best player in the World can get top dollar. It is what it is, but the best player in the World is going to play for the team that pays him top dollar ultimately. If we are going to start feeling sorry for him, we have our priorities wrong.
He doesn't need any more money.
He could go and play 3 more years where he wants to play. He could play for free and still be worth £100ms. The move to PSG is greed, plain and simple.
Not really any of our business in regards to how greedy L. Messi is.
He's earned his way to the top. He entertains millions of people.
If you want to blame him for being greedy...just blame the people that surround him. His talent is also someone else's cash.
He can't live a normal life. Everywhere he goes, he will be recognised and harassment will hit him. His fame is his curse. Minimal privacy.
That's the trade off. A huge mental strain.
Be as greedy as you like, Messi. Just play football do what you enjoy, and tell everyone to f*ck off.
Comments
Similar to when Steven Gerrard joined LA Galaxy after spending his whole life at Liverpool. What was the point?
The romantic in me would have preferred for Messi to head back to Newell’s, instead of soulless money club like PSG.
Hardly the move from a player playing for the 'love of the game'.
He could go and play 3 more years where he wants to play. He could play for free and still be worth £100ms. The move to PSG is greed, plain and simple.
Lionel Messi's dramatic Barcelona exit appears to have plenty of twists to come yet, with the Catalans alleging Paris Saint-Germain cannot sign the Argentine icon due to their own financial woes.
Lawyers at the Spanish club have filed a complain to the European Court of Appeals, stating the Parisians should be stopped in their pursuit of Messi based on financial data.
Messi confirmed in a teary press conference that he will be leaving Barcelona this summer after a lifetime at the club, and is now finalising terms with PSG.
Part 1 was the chairman blaming La Liga for not signing Messi and saying a deal had been agreed.
Part 2 was wheeling out Messi to cry on camera about how much he wants to still play for Barcelona.
Part 3 looks to be a legal challenge.
Between them Messi and Barcelona have completely brought this on themselves and then are holding a press conference to cry and blame La Liga.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/barcelona/barcelona-forward-lionel-messi-makes-eu500-000-coronavirus-donation-argentina-a4437806.html?amp
https://www.unicef.org/goodwill-ambassadors/leo-messi
You've got to laugh really. Aguero is now out for 10 weeks with a calf injury.
He's earned his way to the top. He entertains millions of people.
If you want to blame him for being greedy...just blame the people that surround him.
His talent is also someone else's cash.
He can't live a normal life. Everywhere he goes, he will be recognised and harassment will hit him. His fame is his curse. Minimal privacy.
That's the trade off. A huge mental strain.
Be as greedy as you like, Messi. Just play football do what you enjoy, and tell everyone to f*ck off.