Joan Laporta reacted to the departure of Lionel Messi on Friday morning. Barcelona announced on Thursday evening that the attacker will not extend his expiring contract, which means that he can say goodbye on a transfer-free basis. In a specially scheduled press conference, the chairman reiterated his opposition to LaLiga’s plans to partner with the investment fund CVC Capital Partners, which wants to invest 2.7 billion euros in the competition in exchange for ten percent of the shares. That deal would have allowed Barcelona to continue with Messi for longer, but Laporta was unwilling to make that sacrifice. Laporta does not count on the Argentinian being able to be admired in the Barcelona shirt after all.
Laporta promised to investigate the true nature of the financial problems at the Camp Nou in the election race. At the end of March reported Esport3 that an audit has shown that the situation is more worrisome than expected: last year around 350 million euros was lost and Barcelona would only be able to write black numbers with Laporta’s plans again from the 2022/23 season. Those responsible for the audit assumed Messi would not renew his contract and that Barcelona would make a top signing this summer. A longer stay for Messi would prove even more expensive. In the press conference, Laporta spits his bile about his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu, without mentioning the former chairman by name.
“First of all, I want to say, the legacy we’ve been given is terrible,” said Laporta. “We pay 110 percent of our income in salaries. We don’t have any margin. LaLiga’s regulations are based on Financial Fair Play, so we don’t have any margin. We knew that in advance, but when I came to the club, we see numbers that were a lot better. The losses are bigger than we thought. We have to spend a lot more than we thought before. With the current contracts, we are losing a huge amount on salaries and we have no margin. The first We couldn’t ratify the contract we agreed with Messi.”
The only way to comply with the Fair Play rules was to agree to the deal with CVC. Barcelona expressed its opposition to this on Thursday evening. “Barcelona believes that the announced operation has not been sufficiently discussed with the clubs (the owners of the TV rights),” the club said in a statement. “Barcelona also believes that the amount is not in line with its duration and that the deal affects some of the TV rights of all clubs for the next 50 years. Barcelona believes it is inappropriate to enter into a half-century agreement.” given the uncertainties that always surround the football world. The terms of the contract that LaLiga describes have huge implications for the future of Barcelona in terms of broadcasting rights.”
Laporta elaborates in the press conference about his reasons for not supporting the deal. “I cannot make decisions that will continue to affect the club for 50 years. The club is over a hundred years old and is bigger than anything and anyone, including the best player in the world, whom we will always be grateful for for all he has done for has meant to us. The club is bigger than coaches, presidents and players. It would be risky to continue with Messi. We wanted to do that, but after we saw the figures from the last audit, it would mean that we could If we end current contracts it is also risky. The only way to keep some margin is to accept that deal, even though we don’t like it for Barcelona. The deal will put the club in the next 50 years at risk and we don’t want to do that.”
“Leo wanted to stay at Barcelona. He agreed to a longer stay and we wanted him to stay,” said Laporta. He indicates that Messi wanted to sign for five years and cut his salary by sixty percent. “I would like to thank Camp Leo and everyone involved in the negotiations. Unfortunately, due to regulations in LaLiga, we cannot do it. Many aspects had to be negotiated: it had to comply with Fair Play, the contract had to be of a certain duration , because we are talking about the best player in the world. After all the negotiations, there comes a time when you have to say: ‘Enough’. You have to approach it rationally. We have to abide by the rules. We think they could be a little more flexible, but that’s no excuse We knew they were there We couldn’t follow the rules because of the inheritance we got It saddens me but we did everything we could to keep Leo I believe we did some the best is for Barcelona. A new era now begins without Lionel Messi. We remain grateful to him.” When asked if there is still an opening for Messi, Laporta said: “I don’t want to give false hopes. We worked with a deadline because LaLiga starts soon. Now Messi can look at other options.”