Emotional Lionel Messi says his goodbyes to FC Barcelona
By: Priyanka Sikdar
Last Update: 2021-08-09 21:09:11 IST
During a news appearance on Sunday, Lionel Messi fought back tears as he announced his departure from Barcelona, where he has spent his entire professional career.
Emotional Lionel Messi says his goodbyes to FC Barcelona
During a news appearance on Sunday, Lionel Messi fought back tears as he announced his departure from Barcelona, where he has spent his entire professional career.
At his farewell ceremony at the Camp Nou Stadium, Messi began crying even before he began speaking, and he had to pause a few times to collect himself.
He stated he wanted to stay at the club and had agreed to a 50% pay cut in exchange for a new contract. Barcelona, on the other hand, couldn’t even afford a bargain Messi.
“This is very hard for me after so many years, after being here my entire life,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared.”, he added.
Messi remained tight-lipped about his future, claiming that he had gotten offers from a number of clubs following the Catalan club’s announcement that he would be leaving. Messi admitted it was “a possibility” when questioned about joining Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona said on Thursday that it would not be able to maintain its best player because a new deal would not comply with the Spanish league’s financial fair-play criteria. Because of the club’s massive debt, the salary cap has been severely reduced. The club’s problems, according to President Joan Laporta, are due to the coronavirus epidemic and, in particular, the former administration led by JosepBartomeu.
Even if he had played for free, Barcelona would not have been able to re-sign the six-time Ballon d’Or winner. With Messi on board, the club’s wage-to-turnover ratio was 110 percent, according to Laporta. Without him, the percentage would have been 95%, much above the FFP cut-off. The club’s debt has surpassed GBP 1 billion, according to the latest financial report, which includes money owing for Philippe Coutinho and Frenkie de Jong. Their first-team squad has a pay expenditure of roughly GBP 235 million per year.
