It remains to be seen whether Lionel Messi will also play for Barcelona next season. Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, emphasized on Thursday that the Catalans do not currently have the financial space to sign the 34-year-old Argentine attacker. Barcelona will have to cut spending to comply with the Spanish League’s Financial Fair Play rules, which are even stricter than UEFA’s financial requirements.
In the 2019/20 season, Barcelona was allowed to spend 671.4 million euros, an amount that is determined on the basis of income, costs and debts. This limit dropped to 382.7 million euros last year and now amounts to 347 million euros. Eric García, Memphis Depay, Sergio Agüero and Emerson Royal have already been brought in by Barcelona, but Goal reported last week that they may only be registered if a few high earners are sold. Lionel Messi must also be registered as a ‘new addition’, as his contract officially expired last week.
Barcelona has already saved 25 million euros with the departures of Junior Firpo, Francisco Trinçao, Konrad de la Fuente, Jean Claire Todibo and Matheus Fernandes, but can really cut back if Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic and Philippe Coutinho can be sold. Tebas was asked on Thursday whether Messi will remain at Barcelona. “I do not know. If no one is sold, it is impossible for Messi to stay at Barcelona,” Tebas told the program jugones. The LaLiga president confirmed he had a 30-minute chat with Barcelona president Joan Laporta about the club’s and Messi’s financial situation. Tebas is said to have urged Laporta to follow the rules as they are.
“Messi will not be able to sign on the terms he had in his previous contract. That’s impossible, but I don’t think any European club can afford that amount at the moment. It’s not just Barcelona that has problems with that,” says Tebas. “The decision whether Messi stays at Barcelona is not up to me, but up to the club. We hope they can solve their problems so that Messi can stay in Spain. Of course we want the best players to play in LaLiga. But on the other hand, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo have left and the competition is still growing.”
All signals on red: Barcelona are not allowed to register Messi, Depay and Aguero
As it stands now, Barcelona will not be allowed to sign up its new players.
“Serie A and Ligue 1 haven’t grown that fast, despite having those star players. We shouldn’t be obsessed with players. It would be great if Messi stays, but it’s not essential,” said Tebas. “Our rules are adequate. Due to the pandemic, there are less revenues and higher losses. Without rules, there would only be more debt. We find our rules acceptable and the clubs have to comply with them. The clubs themselves have agreed to the rules. It is not the first time in recent years that clubs have signed players and cannot sign up. I’m sure Barcelona can solve it. If not, they cannot register new players.”
“Barcelona has always been close to the border. When the pandemic came, they ran out of buffer. No club has pushed the boundaries like this. Barcelona lost 350 million euros in turnover in the pandemic,” said Tebas. “The losses at Real Madrid are smaller. They have been able to rent players with high salaries, which has not been the case with Barcelona. Manchester City also lost 270 million euros in turnover, Paris Saint-Germain 250 million euros. All the big clubs have lost money during the pandemic, Real Madrid are doing great at this time.”