DBasia.news – The certainty of Lionel Messi’s status as free agents, aka without a club, has been confirmed by Barcelona. The club did not renew the 34-year-old’s contract which expired last July.
Barca and Messi wants to continue working together, Messi agreed to reduce his salary by 50%, but LaLiga’s rules on limiting player salaries and spending have prevented this. Messi left after promotion from La Masia and has played in the first team since 2004.
With his status, the winner of six Ballon d’Or and four Champions League titles can be signed by any team (as long as they are able to pay the player’s salary). Messi has recently been rumored to be heading to PSG, but as long as there is no official confirmation, anything can still happen.
Other clubs such as Bayern Munich can also sign Messi. However, when the news circulated, Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic immediately denied it.
“Unfortunately, it is not possible (to sign Messi). We did not enter into negotiations, signing Messi was unthinkable before, even though it was free,” said Salihamidzic as quoted by Sport1.
Bayern Chooses Rival Team
Compared to recruiting Messi, Bayern choose to continue their ‘hobby’ to reduce the strength of their rivals or weaken them, now they are reportedly preparing Erling Haaland, a Borussia Dortmund striker, as Robert Lewandowski’s successor.
In the past Bayern have done so when recruiting Manuel Neuer, Niklas Sule, Mario Gotze, Lewandowski, Leon Goretzka, and other players. Now they are targeting Haaland and Salihamidzic is not denying that.
“Of course (Bayern are interested in Haaland), he is a great young player. So you have to pay attention. He is a first-class player who everyone likes,” concluded Salihamidzic.