Barcelona announced on Thursday that club legend Lionel Messi will not be a part of the club for the 2021-22 season. The Catalan club’s statement revealed that despite the club and Messi agreeing to a new contract, the Spanish league rules prevented the Argentine from extending his stay at the club.
“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of Spanish LaLiga regulations on player registration. As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled,” said the Barcelona statement.
The statement also thanked Messi for the success that he brought them over the years.
Messi’s previous deal with the club expired on June 30, 2021, and he is currently a free agent. Reports had suggested that the 34-year-old was to sign a new five-year deal with Barcelona which would have seen him take a 50% wage reduction.
The Argentina captain could not stay at the club due to La Liga’s wage cap. Also, clubs can not register free agents if they exceed the wage cap set by the Spanish league. Even with a 50% reduction of Messi’s salary, Barcelona would not have been able to stay within the wage structure.
Barcelona’s finances have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in them putting a number of their star players up for sale. They have so far signed only three first-team players – Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia, and Sergio Aguero, all of whom were signed on free transfers.
Messi leaves Barcelona with a huge trophy cabinet, having won everything in club football with the La Liga side. The 34-year-old left Argentina to join Barcelona at 13 years of age and went on to become a legend.
He has broken a number of records, won the league 10 times and the Champions League 4 times, as well as the Ballon d’Or on 6 occasions. He will go down in history as the greatest player in the Spanish league and Barcelona – and perhaps the world.
Reports suggest that Messi’s next destination could be Paris Saint-Germain, where he will be reunited with his former Barca teammate Neymar. The 2021-22 season could see a mouth-watering, exciting front three of Neymar, Messi, and French sensation Kylian Mbappe for PSG.
