After leaving Barcelona in 2021 due to the club’s financial constraints preventing them from registering his contract, Lionel Messi spent two seasons with PSG. After Messi’s stint in Paris was over, his former club tried to bring him back to Camp Nou. However, Barcelona’s attempts to facilitate a Lionel Messi return were fruitless, as different individuals offered their perspectives on his impossible return.
Admitting Barcelona’s tough financial situation, club president Joan Laporta refuted the alleged difficulty of bringing back their best player ever. He stated that Messi’s return was impossible because the 36-year-old Leo no longer wanted the fierce competition in Europe. However, the La Liga president, Javier Tebas, has provided a completely different narrative to this controversy.
Why did Lionel Messi’s move to Barcelona collapse?
Messi left Barcelona for PSG in 2021; at the time of his departure, Barcelona was in a poor financial situation. However, they wanted to keep Lionel Messi so badly that they made some financial revisions. The club even requested that a few high-profile Barcelona players take a pay cut.
At the peak of Barca’s financial woes, it was even suggested that the likes of Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi would take a significantly larger pay cut to ease the club’s financial hardship.
Lionel Messi brought an end to his stay at PSG after a tumultuous era, and most football fans thought a return to Barca was imminent. But suddenly, Messi completed a move to Inter Miami, where he currently plays in the MLS. Lionel Messi, speaking on the reason he could not return to Barca, said:
“I heard that they had to sell players or lower players’ salaries, and the truth is that I didn’t want to go through that, nor take charge of obtaining something that had to do with all that.”
Barca President Laporta confirmed their financial issues, as Lionel Messi hinted, saying:
“What is owed to him is the deferral of the salary bill that was agreed with the previous board and that produces pending payments that end in 2025.”
On the other hand, Laporta refuted the notion that Barcelona would have encountered a similar predicament had they secured Lionel Messi’s signing during the summer.
La Liga President discloses real reason behind Lionel Messi’s failed transfer
The Inter Miami star became a free agent earlier this year at the expiration of his PSG contract, and Barca was initially confident about re-signing their all-time leading goalscorer, but there are allegations that Lionel Messi was not entirely open to a return.
Laporta hinted that Lionel Messi did not return to Barcelona because he no longer wanted to play in the pressurized environment of a top European League.
“He told us that he decided to join Inter Miami because he had spent very difficult seasons in Paris, where he was under a lot of pressure, while in Miami, he would be calmer and could think about the national team and that, although he wanted to come to Barça, he didn’t want to spend another year like this.
“It’s understandable, and we’re working on a great tribute to Messi that Barça should do.”
However, La Liga president Javier Tebas revealed that “People always look for reasons where there are none.” in an attempt to communicate the ‘real’ for Messi’s impossible return to Barcelona. He further elaborated on his assertion when he stated:
La Liga president Javier Tebas: "Leo Messi didn't finish his career at Barcelona because they couldn't find an agreement". 🔵🔴🇦🇷
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 7, 2023
"I wish he could have finished his career in La Liga. It would have been the best for him, for me, and for Barcelona". pic.twitter.com/JailcgHW1K
“Leo Messi didn’t finish his career at Barcelona because they couldn’t find an agreement”.
“We have always been very clear. Barça is not in the one-on-one norm, it is at 40%, and since the norm was changed for all the clubs, they are a little better than last year, but it is by no means in the one-on-one norm.
“The viability plan is for all the clubs, and it is as a consequence of the new Sports Law that was approved on December 22, which makes us even more responsible for the future of the clubs.” It is understood that Javier Tebas’ utterances were in reference to the league’s new strict salary cap policy.
According to 90min, The salary cap for each club in a season is calculated by subtracting non-sporting expenses and any debt repayments from their revenue. As of now, Barcelona’s salary cap stands at €648.82 million. Any potential move to bring back Messi would have exceeded this cap by a considerable margin, and this is why the club had to prioritize selling players during the summer in order to create room within their budget to make a deal for Messi a viable option.
Would you love to see Lionel Messi play for the Blaugrana once again? Let us know what you think in the comments.
