Barcelona set aside 150 million euros not for transfers but for Lionel Messi

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 07: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona warms up prior to the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Camp Nou on March 07, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 07: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona warms up prior to the Liga match between FC Barcelona and Real Sociedad at Camp Nou on March 07, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

The president of Barcelona has set aside 150 million euros to regain Lionel Messi‘s confidence as the club calls for early elections.

The situation in Barcelona seems to go be going from bad to worse in the last couple of weeks. Six board members have already resigned from their post and had penned a joint letter expressing their opinions over the poor financial management of the club amidst the COVID-19 worldwide outbreak.

More from Everything Barca

The six board members who resigned from their respective posts are disgruntled over the poor management by Josep Maria Bartomeu as the president of the club. The resigned members also denounced the fact that the club had forced them to deny that in the month of February, Bartomeu had hired a firm to target former and current players on all social media platforms.

The only possible escape route that Bartomeu can see is to offer Lionel Messi a new three-year contract worth 150 million euros, according to Don Balon. The president believes that the new contract would please Lionel Messi which would also directly lighten up the mood at the club since the captain has been one of the most vocal players against the board this season.

Josep Bartomeu’s plan is to offer Lionel Messi a three-year contract extension worth 50 million euros per season. A total of 150 million euros would be lost in the process of three years and the club is already in a tight situation financially.

Barcelona had big plans for the summer to sign Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan by triggering his 111 million euros clause. However, if Bartomeu does offer Lionel Messi the proposed contract, neither Neymar nor Lautaro Martinez would sign for Barcelona in the coming three years.

Several officials at the club and players have already called for an early election, however, the president is not one to give in so easily. To regain everyone’s confidence would be a massive task for Bartomeu to pull off. His first step to work his way back is to regain Leo Messi’s confidence by offering him a mouth-watering contract.