The ‘bring back Lionel Messi’ campaign by the media, fans and even the manager at Barcelona is growing by the day.
And while the heart tells everyone the homecoming of their greatest son is written in the stars, the head says there are many hurdles to overcome before it becomes reality.
No-one knows this better than the decision-makers at Barcelona – especially president Joan Laporta, who decided two seasons ago that Messi was unaffordable despite having assured him a deal was in place to keep him.
The 35-year-old Argentina forward, who is Barcelona’s all-time top scorer with 672 goals in 778 games, still has a deal on the table at Paris St-Germain, but with doubts about their future plans hopes grow at the Nou Camp the return could be on.
Where are we at the moment?
Messi’s commitment to PSG ends this summer, and with no movement on extending his stay in France, Barcelona want him back.
However, the dreams of just about everyone at the club crash head-on with the stark reality.
Barcelona have a wage bill of about 600m euros (£531m) which they need to reduce by 200m (£177m).
Before they can even make a formal offer to Messi this financial restructuring must happen, because if it does not – forget Messi for a moment – they will not even be able to register new contracts with the likes of Gavi, Araujo, Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto, nor finalise any renewals and sign reinforcements for next season.
The club will have to present a viability plan to La Liga, which will mean more wage cuts, players sold and others arriving on free transfers. There is even talk about terminating some players’ contracts.
Only when all this is sorted out can they think about returning into the transfer market for new players, among them Messi.
Also the club’s enforced move to the former Olympic Stadium at Montjuic until November 2024 at the earliest because of the renovation of the Nou Camp means they will lose about 55m euros (£49m) in ticket sales.
Barcelona have raised 1.4bn euros (£1.24bn) for the creation of the new stadium which is in addition to the 1.3bn (£1.15bn) they already owe.
Investment banking company Goldman Sachs now has a sizeable control of the club because it has covered a lot of that debt or has managed to get other investors on board and wants a bigger say in decisions. It, like the club, is interested in the return of Messi, which might help attract more investors and sponsors.
The hopes are that the arrival of Messi would lead to the more rapid payments of those debts, and the media is giving hope to the masses as they listen to the club telling them they will convince Messi to return.
Lionel Messi is Barcelona’s record scorer with 672 goals, winning 10 La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues and seven Copas del Rey during a 21-year association with the clubWhat do Barcelona have to do to bring Messi back?
There will need to be an apology from Laporta on behalf of himself and everyone at the club who orchestrated his departure.
That should be a formality for the pragmatic Laporta, although getting Messi to accept it and totally trust Barcelona’s power-brokers again will be considerably more problematic.
When he left he did so after having been reassured that everything was in place to keep him at the club. He even broke off from his holiday to return to Barcelona and sign a new contract.
While everything is being done to build bridges – there has been a meeting between Laporta and the Argentine’s father, Jorge – there has still been no contact between the club’s president and Messi himself.
They will also need to negotiate the details of the contract, especially surrounding the long-term project in place at the club.
Barca want to offer him a two-year contract so he can be present at the team’s return to the Nou Camp and participate in the club’s 125th anniversary events.
The Spanish paper Sport has said the club will offer him 25m euros (£22.1m) gross a season, which is a quarter of what he earned at the end of his previous stay – and the club are confident this will be compatible with the stipulations made by La Liga.
There is even talk that the old building overlooked by the stadium which used to house the academy players residence, La Masia, could become a Messi museum with all proceeds going to finance his return. La Liga has told the club that they cannot activate any more financial levers, selling parts of the club to raise money.
Source: Ghana Web