Lionel Messi has officially been turned into a free agent just a few days ago as his current contract with Barcelona has expired. The Argentine has not yet signed a new deal but a new contract looks inevitable as major sources state that both parties are interested in signing a new deal.
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However, due to the new rules and regulations set by La Liga as an organization, Barca will not be able to register Lionel Messi as a footballer for their team and it will just not be the case for Leo but also all the new signings they landed, such as Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia from Manchester City along with Emerson from Real Betis and Memphis Depay from Olympic Lyon.
Barcelona struggle to meet La Liga’s regulations
These rules suggest that Barcelona as a club has exceeded the complete salary amount for one particular team. So in order to land a new deal for Lionel Messi and to register all their new players as official players of the team and the league, they will need to sell a lot of squad players that take up a lot of wages. Barcelona has many players as of now who don’t even play regularly but account for a large part of the salary allowance.
For example, Antoine Griezmann reportedly makes 800,000 pounds per week which is around 45 million per season. It’s an atrocious figure for a player who’s not exactly very consistent nor is he contributing to trophy wins. Many players such as Samuel Umtiti, Phillippe Coutinho etc, are taking up a lot of wages without making any sort of contribution. Whether they’re out for injuries or whether they’re not a part of Ronald Koeman’s plans at the club, they’re still not making any sort of contribution to the club.
As for Lionel Messi, according to Goal, he is definitely staying at the club. It does not look like he will be leaving the club any time soon as he wishes to continue at Camp Nou even after he hangs his boots. Joan Laporta has also stated that everything is on track and he’s sure about the Argentine signing a new deal. However, the club are reportedly in a huge debt of 1.5 billion pounds which is a massive problem when it comes to making signings and maintaining players with such high wage amounts.
Either they will have to sell multiple superstars for cheap given their current market value is nowhere near what they paid for them, or outright terminate players that refuse to leave. It is a difficult task for the club and it seems that the former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, continues to cause problems even after his departure.
Which players should Laporta sell to fix the club’s finances?