Leo Messi will go the middle way once he becomes a free agent after his contract with PSG expires on June 30: he will bet on the family option of Inter Miami before the money from Saudi Arabia or for the love of the colors of Barcelona. Although the desire of the 10 was to return to Barca, the critical economic situation of the Barca club prevents articulating a contract that respects the demands of the League, the same problem that already caused his departure in 2021.
He timing of the player did not coincide with that of the entity: Messi wanted an immediate response and Barcelona was asking for time to adjust its salary mass and comply with the feasibility plan signed with the League. Both the footballer and the institution practically gave up after the player had already told Barcelona that he would not return despite the interest of president Joan Laporta and especially coach Xavi Hernandez.
In the last hours, the Barcelona dressing room was agitated. “What’s up with Leo?” Asked one of the Barca team’s expedition to Japan, where the team played a friendly against Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe (0-2). There were others who were watching Twitch. There were also the most classic, if you will, who eagerly followed the information on Twitter. The expectation of the Barcelona players collapsed this Wednesday afternoon. As confirmed by sources from the Barca entity, Messi will not return to Barca and will surely continue his career in the United States, information disclosed by the journalist Miguel Rico.
The captain of Argentina, in this way, discarded the tempting offer from Arabia -400 million per season- to accept the one from Inter that includes, according to The Athletic, a percentage of the income of the MLS pass, the broadcasting package of the games on television -the American League signed a contract with Apple for 10 seasons in exchange for 2,500 million dollars-, plus participation in the profits of Adidas that sponsors both the MLS and the Argentine. In addition, always according to the American portal, the possibility of buying a team when he retires, as they had already agreed with David Beckham at the time. Then the American dream of the Argentine begins. A dream that rushed for Messi. His wish was to continue his career in Europe.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, the man from Rosario had reached an agreement in principle to extend his contract with PSG for one more season. However, in February, after the first meeting between Jorge Messi, the player’s agent and father, and Luis Campos, sports director of the Parisian team, everything cooled down. The executive of the French team did not know how to answer Messi’s question: “What is the sports project?” At that moment, Barcelona appeared and especially Xavi. Laporta, by then, had only made a small approach to Jorge: a half-hour meeting in a hotel in which, according to both parties, only a possible tribute was discussed. And nothing more. Messi had hoped, according to those who know him, with his return to Barcelona. It turns out that in the Barcelona entity the only one excited about the return of the 10 was Laporta.
“First we have to register all the players that we need to register,” they reasoned, at the time, in the sports area. Other sources from the sports management, even more skeptical of Messi’s return, sentenced: “How can you start talking about a signing like Leo’s, with all the movements that it implies, both from fair play How are players coming out in April? That should have started to be done much earlier.” Time passed and Messi still did not receive a proposal from the club. Then, in mid-May, the man from Rosario began to move emotionally away from Barcelona. “If they couldn’t register him in 2021, when there were supposedly no problems with LaLiga, how are they going to do it now that there is an open dispute?” asked a veteran of the Barcelona dressing room.
The media pressure from Xavi, added to the concern of the dressing room about the number of exits that had to be produced to open the door for him, distanced Messi from Barcelona. “We are waiting for Xavi to talk to us to see if we have to look for life. But he did not do it ”, assures one of the players indicated to leave Barca in the next market. “Leo is mentally bad and tired”, sentenced Jorge Messi, in his last public appearance. The player’s father had tried one last rapprochement with Laporta. It did not work out. According to Barcelona sources, the club had presented an offer to the player. A maxim that does not coincide with the version of the footballer’s environment: “It was not a formal proposal.” The meeting between the president and the player’s agent barely lasted half an hour. There was no turning back. Messi’s future was definitely moving away from the Camp Nou.
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Source: EL PAIS
