nmc
Well-Known Member
Does this Messi fella track back?
That was built about, what, 15 years ago; do keep up at the back!If he is coming they better hurry up and build that second tier on the north stand be like gold dust the season tickets
The way Spanish contracts work, the player can put up the amount of the buy-out clause at any time and he's released from his contract. You can negotiate a lower fee but there's legal and tax issues around doing that. His buy-out clause is €250m so if he wants to come, he gives Barca that money and he's out. But the issue here is that he's in the last 2 years of this contract so the Webster ruling applies. This means he could, in theory, pay up his outstanding salary, and that's that. But contracts for top players will probably include a "market value" clause, meaning that any buy-out has to be done at his perceived market value. Barca wouldn't want to risk letting him go for nothing so will probably settle for less than the buy-out clause if they're convinced he wants to go.Ive got no doubt whatsoever that a bid from us in the form of "If you want to sell then just name your price" is on the table and has been for a while but i doubt they will ever make that phone call.
The way Spanish contracts work, the player can put up the amount of the buy-out clause at any time and he's released from his contract. You can negotiate a lower fee but there's legal and tax issues around doing that. His buy-out clause is €250m so if he wants to come, he gives Barca that money and he's out. But the issue here is that he's in the last 2 years of this contract so the Webster ruling applies. This means he could, in theory, pay up his outstanding salary, and that's that. But contracts for top players will probably include a "market value" clause, meaning that any buy-out has to be done at his perceived market value. Barca wouldn't want to risk letting him go for nothing so will probably settle for less than the buy-out clause if they're convinced he wants to go.
I've heard nothing but the £100-120m range sounds about right if he wants to go, based on where he is with his contract. His wages are largely from commercial/image rights sources and his basic was around £300k a week so a 4-year contract would cost us around £200m overall and we'd make most, if not all, of that back in increased commercial revenue.
A deal has been on the table for nearly 4 years so the issue is his desire to come, not the money.