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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted that the club’s well-being was put ahead of retaining club-legend Lionel Messi this summer.
Lionel Messi moved to Qatar Sports Investments owned Paris Saint-Germain in perhaps the most high-profile free transfer in world football.
Prior to his announcement to leave Barcelona, there were reports that we was set to extend his stay for a further two years.
However, Barcelona’s financial situation prohibited them from making the deal happen, as they had to reduce their wage bill by 25%.
The aforementioned reduction in the wage bill wasn’t possible, not in such a short span of time as Barcelona struggled to offload some of their high earners.
Although Lionel Messi was willing to take a massive pay cut, Laporta has admitted that it would have been a massive financial risk to make him stay.
“We are convinced that we made the decisions that had to be made. What happened with Messi is sad, but it was necessary, because the institution is above all,” he said.
“We would have put everything at risk. The situation is dramatic. It’s solvable, but it is dramatic. If this had happened later, we would have had one or two more years of Messi, but the situation occurred now.
“I think it has been a relationship that has lasted a long time and it has been one of the most beautiful love stories that this club has experienced. In the end it has deteriorated. It is the way life is,” the club’s president said.
Barcelona still in a dire financial state despite Lionel Messi’s departure
Barcelona have been mismanaged to a debt of around €1.35 billion according to Joan Laporta, and the need to make them financially stable is imperative.
While Messi’s departure will lighten the burden on the wage bill, the club still need to get rid of some of their high earners.
As of now, the player wages account for around 103% of all income, and that is the highest breakdown among all clubs in La Liga.
Lionel Messi may no longer be playing for Barcelona, but he is expected to form a fearsome attacking trio with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe this season.
