"Despite having reached an agreement and with the intention of signing a new contract, this cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish LaLiga regulations)". Thus, with few words, FC Barcelona explained on August 5, 2021 the unexpected goodbye of Leo Messi from the Barça club after spending 20 years of his life and career there. "Barça would like to wholeheartedly thank the player for his contribution to the aggrandizement of the institution and wishes him the best in his personal and professional life", added the brief official note. More than a year and a half after that decision, the debate on its convenience is still open.
Sportingly, Barcelona has continued to drop a few European steps (two consecutive participations in the Europa League, a competition that was never relegated to with Messi in the first team) and has not added any major title (only the Super Cup), while due to its In part, the Argentine has won a World Cup, has been proclaimed the best player in the world in 2022 and has won a French league with PSG, a club that lost it to Lille just one season before his arrival. Obviously the titles achieved with Argentina, as well as the individual awards, do not count to the credit of PSG, Rosario's current club, but the direct and indirect impact in economic terms and international repercussion is incalculable. Barça, without Messi, saved a million-dollar salary, it is true, but the problem of its soaring salary mass has not yet been resolved (according to LaLiga, it will have to reduce it by 200 million next summer to return to normality) and it has lost an asset (a patrimony, actually) whose economic and image gains were intangible. All these advantages are enjoyed today by PSG, which has already made a renewal offer to the footballer after completing the initial two-year contract.
Messi's contribution in his last season with Barça, in which he only won the Cup (and one Copa América with the albiceleste), was 47 games played and 38 goals, 30 of which were scored in the League, the championship of which He was Pichichi for the eighth time. Some extraordinary numbers for any footballer but below average compared to his own performance over the years. In any case, light years away from the benefits offered by Ferran Torres, signed months after the Argentine's goodbye for 55 million euros (which are already 62 due to the fulfillment of variables), and by Raphinha, acquired in the summer of 2022 by 58 million euros separately variable. Only Lewandowski (45 million 5), with decreasing productivity, barely resists the comparison. The Pole, who will turn 35 in August (he is one less than Messi), will have three more seasons left on his contract.
The future of Messi, who ends his contract with PSG this summer, will continue to be linked to an elite club. The Argentine wants to continue competing at the highest level and it is most likely that he will end up understanding the Parisian entity despite the fact that some problems in the negotiation are slowing down the agreement. The option to play a season in the Argentine club of which he is a follower, Newell's Old Boys, responds more to an unrealistic sentimental wish than to a real possibility. Barça, conditioned by the breach of the fair play that LaLiga marks, is far from being able to aspire to a return of Messi today. That inability to bid for crack hinders a dream that Barcelona fans always took for granted; that Messi would never leave Barça and that he would be his ambassador for life after his retirement.
