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After a lot of speculation and hope, Lionel Messi finally succumbed to the pressure of staying at Barcelona, against his will, for yet another season. This is the greatest example in the history of football, which supports my claim, that players, no matter how great they are, will always be at the mercy of the football clubs.
Why staying at Barcelona was not Lionel Messi's choice
The relationship between a club and a footballer is like a marriage. Sometimes the marriage is a happy one, sometimes it is just sad.
Lionel Messi’s relationship with Barcelona was always a happy one before the management of the club took a series of wrong decisions which led to the sour relationship. This was not the first time the star footballer of Barcelona wanted to call it quits with his club, but the last nail in the coffin was the utter humiliation that Barcelona had to face in front of the Bavarians.
Now, coming to all the questions and comments that I see circulating in the social media. Here is my sincerest effort into answering all those questions and snide remarks.
1. Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona was all a hoax. He should be nominated for the Best Actor award
Leaving Barcelona was Lionel Messi's first choice. He tried to convince the President of FC Barcelona multiple times as to why he should be put up for sale but the President disagreed.
The only way for Messi to leave the club was for some club to pay a whopping €700 million as mentioned in his release clause, which was impossible for anyone or any club to pay for a 33-year-old footballer.
Also read: Lionel Messi stays at Barcelona: Cristiano, Kobe and sport's biggest U-turns
2. Why did Lionel Messi sign the contract when he saw the release clause which mentioned such a huge sum of money?
Messi never saw this coming. When a player joins a club, he never thinks of leaving at the earliest or the release clause because the sum mentioned in the release clause is often a crazy amount.
Sure, the Barcelona legend was unhappy with the club for a long time but he never expected that he would have to exercise his right to leave or that the club would behave in such a horrendous manner.
He felt that the club would be more understanding about his feelings. He wanted to settle this unfortunate circumstance in a peaceful manner.
3. Why did Lionel Messi not drag Barcelona to court?
Frankly, even I have this question and I firmly believe that he should have stood in the courtroom and asked for justice. But I understood why he didn’t.
Lionel Messi and Barcelona’s relationship has shaped the little maestro into who he is today. One unfortunate event and a handful of people cannot interfere with the love that is there.
That is why Messi did not go to the court. For love. For the love of his club. For the love of his family and children as the news of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona crushed his wife and kids. Messi did not want the relationship with FC Barcelona to turn sourer than it already is.
Also read: Lionel Messi stays at Barcelona: Font and Laporta celebrate icon's decision
4. Lionel Messi would have definitely lost the court case against Barcelona if he ever went ahead.
Now, I am not a lawyer, but I think that there was a fair chance that Messi would have won. The contract stated that Messi could have exercised his right to leave before end of May 2020. Now, when the contract was signed, nobody knew that a pandemic would be at large and that Champions League would be held in the month of August 2020.
Moreover, Messi claims that he had expressed his desire to leave before the end of May 2020, but Bartomeu, the President of FC Barcelona, brushed his opinions aside in the name of the upcoming Champions League. Now, Bartomeu denies Messi ever coming up to him.
Also read: Messi stays at Barcelona: The Camp Nou great's career in Opta data
5. Lionel Messi will do the same drama and not even leave next year.
If the club is re-structured and if the team gets stronger, Messi will obviously not leave. It is because of the management and a handful of people because of whom he got sick and tired.
People have to understand that Lionel Messi loves this club and his first choice is definitely not leaving. But if he is treated the way he is being now, the chances of him leaving next year is very likely. The best part is that, if he leaves, he’ll walk for free.
Also read: Lionel Messi stays at Barcelona: The interview in full
