In the Post Covid era this year, football, the most favorite sport of the globe gave the world the first set of mega sporting spectacles- Copa America and the Euros that rattled and dazzled not only Americas or Europe but the entire world earlier this year. The year 2021 proved to be a year to remember for Lionel Messi as he found redemption guiding the La Albiceleste to their first title in almost two decades beating rivals Brazil by a solitary goal in the finals of the Copa America.
Their last World Cup glory came way back in Mexico 1986 and more recently in Rio 2014 Argentina finished runner up courtesy Mario Götze’s extra time goal that helped Germany claim their fourth World Title. The Blue and White brigade had last won the Copa America in 1993 at Ecuador while finishing Runner up 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2016 in the recent past. This was Messi’s first Winners Trophy for his beloved Argentina.
The world was slowly finding its way back to the post-pandemic way of life, when the news that Messi was parting ways with Barcelona, shook the entire world. Football fans across the globe, believed that Barca and Messi were inseparable. The blow was close to the hearts of the 250 million fans who follow Barcelona FC – the second most popular Club in the World. Lionel Messi had joined Barcelona in 2003 in his early teens and since then won a record Six Ballon d’Or Awards, Six European Gold Shoes, Ten La Liga Titles, and for the club 35 trophies which include Seven Copa del Ray and Four European Champions League Crowns. The 5’7” maestro found the opposition net 672 times in 778 appearances for Barca, and scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country -the most goals ever by a player for a single club.
While many indicated how Messi’s good friend Luis Suárez was made to feel at the Barcelona and as a result he left to join Atlético Madrid, these were early signs that things were going to be different. In August 2020, Messi had tried to leave Barcelona making a formal request for an exit after a breakdown in his relationship with then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu but his successor Joan Laporta, had convinced him to stay.
This time when the contract had run out, and Messi and Barcelona wanted to renew their contracts, economic, structural and legal issues were cited to force the two to part ways. Barcelona maintained that Messi wanted to stay with the club even if it meant a 50% reduction in his wages but La Liga’s Financial Fair Play regulations would not permit the club to incur any further debt. Javier Tebas, Chief, La Liga was reported saying that Barcelona, which has a total debt of more than 1 billion euros equivalent to $1.18 billion, would not be shown any leniency when it comes to obeying the league’s strict financial control rules.
In 2013, La Liga had introduced financial measures of controlling that determined the maximum amount of money each club could spend on its teams, which was conditioned by their income. This included the amount a club could spend as paying wages to the playing squad and coaching staff each season. According to the 2021 Deloitte Money League, Barcelona has the highest revenues in world football, although the club’s income fell drastically by 125 million euros last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the income plummeted, the big salaries have definitely been a burgeoning liability on the Catalan giants. Desperate attempts to offload a couple of high-wage players and talks about reducing salaries of players they wanted to retain, things did not actually pan out as planned.
Messi who also captains Argentina and is considered by many to be one of the greatest players to play the game would have had many lucrative offers. Many expected him to move to Manchester City and reunite with his former manager Pep Guardiola but Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino sealed the deal. Reports state that Messi’s two-year contract with PSG gives him a $41 million annual net salary, including bonuses. There is more on the table like a near $30-million signing bonus, while reports are rumored that Argentine will also get a share of player image rights, including jersey sales, which could potentially take his salary up to the $75 million range. PSG said in a statement that Messi will also have a share in the cryptocurrency or fan tokens included in his “welcome package”, or signing on fee. The contract also has an option for extending into a possible third year.