Messi Tells Barcelona He Wants To Leave Soccer

[Tom]

Will Bartomeu keep his word and resign now that Messi has said he will stay?

That is Messi's main goal, get rid of Bartomeu and the board.

Catalan Police are after Bartomeu now, surely he can't cling to power much longer?

If he goes and Barcelona have a good season, Messi will come out of this smelling of roses.

 

[Fraser]

Messi said In an interview with Goal.com on Friday that "The management of the club led by Bartomeu is a disaster."

He has put the boot in. Hopefully, Bartomeu's position is now untenable.

 

[Franco Pinion]

Will Bartomeu keep his word and resign now that Messi has said he will stay?

It seems it isn't that easy for Bartomeu to resign.

The board of directors are urging him not to leave under any circumstances because, if he does, the hierarchy will be liable for the debt the club collected during the financial year, €150m and this will be taken in the form of personal assets. All board members are responsible to pay back 15% of the loss, with their own cash.

It is claimed that a number of board members would be left 'broke' if Bartomeu were to leave now, as they will need one more year to balance the books.

 

[Tom]

It's being reported in some places tonight that he is off to PSG.

 

[Mouth]

PSG has always seemed to make more sense than City. Good players around him so he can still compete in Europe, tonnes of money, and a league with no requirement for him to play week in week out so he can wring the most out of the final years of his career. Not to mention just Paris versus Manchester as a place to spend a few years.

Could well see it being an Argentinian combo of Messi and Pochettino. I get the feeling Poch has been waiting in the wings for this job specifically for a while... has spoken of wanting to manage them in the past as a former player etc.

Even the Pep connection never quite made sense, in that Pep had Messi working like a dog in his younger years... I'm not sure Pep is one for setting his teams up to carry passengers in games - there's no let up for the likes of Aguero, De Bruyne, Sterling etc... now, I know Messi is special, but that type of approach just seems contrary to the fundamentals of how Pep sees the game.

 

[Snoops]

I think Barcelona would happily sell him now. He doesn't look interested and they have been playing better in Europe, when he isn't in the squad, than they have in La Liga. They are also trying to cut their wage bill and find money for a rebuild getting Messi off their books is a very viable option.

 

[Mouth]

His Barcelona contract which he signed in 2017 has been leaked and he will earned €555m over 4 years that ends in June this year.

No wonder they are heading for bankruptcy.

Barcelona are taking legal action against the paper that leaked it.

 

[Tom]

2 million a week is insanity, no matter what way you look at it.

 

[David76]

I'm gobsmacked?! Over €2.5m per week. That can't be right, even if it includes everything (image rights etc) not just basic wage? It just can't be right?

Barcelona debt is around 1.3 billion. I think.

 

[Gromit]

Messi is ready to sue the paper and anyone at Barcelona that are found to have leaked it to the paper.

Barcelona says they back Messi.

I'd say there are plenty at Barcelona delighted this came out.

Maybe they are burning him before he leaves.

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1355679184086036486