I've always felt the 'respect for the club' bit was more for PR purposes than anything else. If he'd have taken them to court, it'd have likely taken as long/longer to resolve than the 12 months they were arguing he was still under contract for. Seems a purely pragmatic decision to keep quiet and let the contract expire.He didn't sign a one year deal last summer.
He was committed to Barcelona till today, since his extension in 2017. He did however have a courtesy final year get-out in recognition of loyalty and service which he tried to use, but Barceloana and LaLiga fucked the spirit of the clause over the technicality, by using the date in the contract, which was also the end of a typical season, instead of the end of the season which came later than usual due to the covid delay.
His lawyers disagreed with the interpretation, and from memory fifa even loosely backed it, but Barcelona said they would take it to court so he withdrew out of respect for the club. And announced he would see out his contract, which he has now done.
You are right though, they were quick to let the world know.
This thread is making us all come out with some proper random posts and I include myself here. :)If Barca are indeed screwed financially and La Liga stick to their own rules about wage caps etc then there is no way they can keep Messi without a firesale and who in their right mind would sell half a squad just to keep 1 player?
The only way I see Messi staying at Barca (as a player) is either:
A - He agree's to play for next to nothing.
B - Same as A but a mysterious sponsor comes in and sponsors his boot laces for 100m a season or something
All that being said - this is Barca and no doubt they will suddenly find a few hundred million they forgot they had or get another loan etc
Well that would be interesting. Tebas a couple of days ago…
“If Barcelona want to bring in a player who costs them €25million per season in salary, they must earn, either by transfer or by a salary reduction, €100 million.”
Speaking about how the rules impact Barca’ bloated squad, Tebas added: “They have to reduce salaries in the squad considerably or produce fees from sold players.
Im guessing that doesn’t apply to renewals. If so Barca may need to sort today Or Messi will be subject to the same rules as any other new signing.
I've always felt the 'respect for the club' bit was more for PR purposes than anything else. If he'd have taken them to court, it'd have likely taken as long/longer to resolve than the 12 months they were arguing he was still under contract for. Seems a purely pragmatic decision to keep quiet and let the contract expire.
Yes I think that might be correct too but I’m not sure him being off the books would put Barca below the threshold given their debt and what they are paying everyone else. Perhaps it would.Interesting. My understanding of that context was it is triggered by them exceding their wage limit by a certain percentage, which is where they are currently.
In theory, if messi doesnt renew today, his wage is renoved and they possibly drop below the threshold and that imposition is removed.
He then possiby signs tomorrow, and that doesn't apply to him, until the wage cap is revalued again.
For clarity, not pretwnding to be in any way clued up on it, just stating how I read the same article/quotes.
That'd be some loophole. 'Sense' says they'd still need to comply with the current pay cap, but then we are talking about TebasInteresting. My understanding of that context was it is triggered by them exceding their wage limit by a certain percentage, which is where they are currently.
In theory, if messi doesnt renew today, his wage is renoved and they possibly drop below the threshold and that imposition is removed.
He then possiby signs tomorrow, and that doesn't apply to him, until the wage cap is revalued again.
For clarity, not pretwnding to be in any way clued up on it, just stating how I read the same article/quotes.
That'd be some loophole. 'Sense' says they'd still need to comply with the current pay cap, but then we are talking about Tebas