The offices of FC Barcelona woke up yesterday with the forecast of finally receiving the long-awaited approval of the feasibility plan presented at the end of April and corresponding to the next two seasons, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. A plan that allowed to begin to shed some light and above all officiality to the offer to try to close the return of Leo Messi. The green light was not delayed. At noon, the employers gave the official go-ahead for the Barcelona club to start operating. But it is a placet with important nuances. Barcelona's salary mass continues to skyrocket and, according to the employer's association, the club must reduce 250 million euros from its salary mass with sales and new income in sponsorships to be able to return to the 1-1 rule (for each salary that leaves, it can enter one equal) and sign normally in summer. If he does not succeed, the entity will only be able to invest 40 percent of the savings it generates in transfers.
At the moment, with the savings plan presented to LaLiga, which includes the departures of Griezmann, Memphis, Alba and Piqué, FC Barcelona can already register the contracts of Gavi and Araújo, as well as making the renewals of Iñaki Peña feasible , Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso. Even the renewal of Alejandro Balde is possible. But to face the return of Messi they need to close more transfers, and therefore more time. And in the club they have the feeling that the Argentine, who already warned that he would decide his future just after the season, will not wait indefinitely. “It is difficult for him to come. His times and ours are different, ”sources from the Barcelona club pointed out.
In Japan, specifically in Tokyo, where Barça played a friendly against Andrés Iniesta's Vissel Kobe, Xavi and the coaching staff were permanently connected to everything that was happening in Barcelona. "We are happy, for now we have the OK to the LaLiga feasibility plan and now, to get going, get down to work and reinforce ourselves, which we need," Xavi explained in statements to TV3. Regarding the return of Messi, the coach pointed out that “the situation is in the hands of the president and Leo's father; therefore, we will see. We will see how it ends, but in the end Leo has the upper hand, ”he recalled.
As the hours passed, pessimism reached Tokyo. By the time the team flew back to Barcelona, expectations with Leo's return had cooled. Above all because in the meeting on Monday between Jorge Messi and the president Joan Laporta, who did not travel to Japan to be able to lead the negotiations, the Barcelona leader asked Jorge Messi for patience and stressed the proposal they have in store for the Argentine when he have made the scheduled departures. Some outputs that the players must accept and that no one from the entity can guarantee that they are in the short term. They don't even happen.
Starting today, Xavi will start talking to the players he doesn't have for his project for next season. They hope to close at least three exits from the first team squad. The names of Ansu Fati, Kessié and Ferran Torres are on the table. The departure of Eric Garcia is not ruled out either if a good offer arrives.
Likewise, it also seeks to close the transfers of some footballers on loan with a current contract. They are Umtiti and Lenglet, whose links extend until 2026; Collado (2024) and Sergiño Dest (2025). The name of Francisco Trincão also appears in the loan folder, although, in his case, Sporting de Portugal signed a mandatory purchase option for seven million at the end of next season after paying three last August, for which the benefits resulting from his departure do not affect this financial year. The return of Abde and Nico, both with a contract with Barça until 2026, will depend on the financial fair play and the economic margin that Barcelona has to sign. The Moroccan winger has more numbers to follow than Nico.
"With the approval of the feasibility plan, we can move forward in the sports project with new additions," said sources from FC Barcelona. In this sense, the one that is closest to becoming official is that of Iñigo Martínez, the Athletic Club central defender who arrives free after ending his contractual relationship with the Biscayan club. The footballer is already in Barcelona waiting for the club to announce his signing.
Meanwhile, Leo Messi's will is to decide his future sooner rather than later. If it can be this week. In the temporary sense and also in the economic sense, Barcelona is at an inferiority with the offers of Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Inter Miami, who continue to press to convince him with formal offers.
