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Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) celebrates after scoring, during La Liga football match between FC Barcelona and Celta de Vigo, at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on May 16, 2021. Foto: Siu Wu (Photo : Siu Wu/picture alliance via Getty Images)
FC Barcelona fans heaved a huge sigh of relief on Wednesday as Lionel Messi and the Catalan club reached an agreement on a new five-year contract, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. Messi has accepted terms on an agreement that includes cutting his wages to half of his previous salary at FC Barcelona.
The blockbuster signing puts an end to one of the most talked-about transfer sagas in the history of professional football. Messi first expressed his desire to leave the club in August 2020 after Barca suffered a humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.
Messi returns after handing in a transfer request last year
Messi’s relationship with then Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu had reached a breaking point with the Argentine legend calling Bartomeu a “liar” and saying that the board had been “making things up as they go along” and “plugging holes” for years in a September 2020 interview with Goal after Barcelona denied his transfer request.
Bartomeu eventually resigned last October after facing a vote of no confidence and was replaced by Joan Laporta in March. Laporta was Barca’s president when Messi made his first-team debut for FC Barcelona and signed his first professional contract with the Catalan giants. Supporters hoped that Laporta’s good relationship with Messi and his family would change the Argentine’s mind about leaving the club.
It looked like Messi’s time with FC Barcelona had come to an end after his blockbuster contract worth a whopping $674 million expired on July 1. European heavyweights Paris Saint Germain and Manchester City were among those who expressed an interest in signing the football icon, but Messi’s bond with the only club he has ever played for proved too tough to break.
A deal with Messi could have been announced before his last contract expired, but Barcelona’s financial problems made that impossible to execute, with their gross debt amounting to over €1 billion.
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Messi cuts wages to help Barcelona comply with financial rules
La Liga president Javier Tebas had already warned Laporta and Barcelona that they would not be allowed to register Messi’s new deal with the club if they could not reduce spending to comply with the league’s strict Financial Fair Play rules.
That’s the main reason why deals with new signings Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia, and Emerson Royal haven’t been officially announced yet as the club has exceeded La Liga’s salary limit.
However, the future looks bright for the debt-riddled club with the quartet’s arrival and Messi’s unexpected return. The announcement is now dependent on additional player departures that will allow Barcelona to fund the Argentina captain’s wages and the new arrivals.
Messi was the main prize for Laporta, given his importance to the club. He is Barcelona’s record scorer with 672 goals, winning ten La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Reys, and a record six Ballon d’Or titles along the way.
Messi is on his way to a seventh Ballon d’Or crown after leading Argentina to the 2021 Copa America title and winning the first major international trophy of his career. A career that will now surely end at FC Barcelona.
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