LaLiga Threatens Barcelona Amid Lionel Messi’s Uncertainty

DBasia.news – Barcelona continues to seek to extend Lionel Messi’s contract, which expires at the end of this month. But the Blaugrana’s efforts threatened to end tragically.

Messi’s future with Barcelona is an endless puzzle. Negotiations for representatives of the two parties have yet to come to a meeting point.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta continues to express his optimism regarding Messi’s contract extension. However, his party was constrained by the financial crisis that attacked El Barca due to the corona virus pandemic.

Messi’s own attitude is more lenient than last summer. At that time he had made up his mind to leave because of a feud with the former club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Messi is even rumored to be ready to receive a much smaller salary than before which is of fantastic value. The most important thing for him is that the club is serious about strengthening Ronald Koeman’s squad.

The problems don’t stop there. LaLiga is now ready to hinder Barcelona’s move to extend Messi’s contract.

These obstacles are contained in a regulation limiting club salaries made at the end of 2020. Barcelona has now exceeded the maximum limit of the set salary value.

That means, Barcelona’s salary burden will increasingly soar if Messi agrees to extend the contract. Although the value will be much smaller than before.

In the 2020-2021 season, Barcelona has a salary limit of 382.717 million euros. This made the Catalan club have to cut the wages of its stars and employees.

Recently, the arrival of four new players made Barcelona’s salary burden swell and exceed the limit. Players like Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay certainly earn above-average wages despite being brought in for free.

“I hope they can keep Messi. But to do so, they have to cut (salary) in other parts,” said LaLiga president Javier Tebas at a press conference session with the media, Wednesday (23/6).

“LaLiga has its rules and Barca know it. They know they have to lower their wages a lot.”

“Messi is the same as Sergio Aguero or whoever they add. We will not make an exception for Messi to stay here,” he added.

After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi is the main star of LaLiga. But Tebas is willing to lose it in order to enforce regulations.

LaLiga’s policy of limiting the value of wages was made to save the club from the threat of bankruptcy during the pandemic.

“I want Messi to stay like I want Sergio Ramos to stay at Real Madrid or (Cristiano) Ronaldo when he goes to Juventus,” Tebas said.

“But the club that makes LaLiga financially stable. We will continue to have good players so that doesn’t worry me.”

Tebas is pretty sure losing Messi will not make LaLiga’s prestige drop drastically. He reflected on the experience when Ronaldo and Neymar left.

“Ronaldo left for Italy but LaLiga is still more famous than Serie A. Likewise when Neymar left Barcelona to cross to PSG,” he concluded.