The Lionel Messi transfer saga began last year and it looks like it’s coming to an end as FC Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta is optimistic that Messi will stay at the club and sign a new contract until 2023.
The transfer saga started when the player wanted to opt-out of the club in August last year and sent a Burofax to the club for the same. The whole situation became very dicey at first and clubs like PSG and Manchester City were interested in signing the player. In the end, the player decided not to leave as he had a release clause of $833 million. The player avoided a legal battle with the “club of his life”.
The 34-year-old became a free agent on July 1st and recently led Argentina to South American glory by winning the Copa America 2020 against Brazil. This is Argentina’s first international trophy since 1993 and the first of Messi’s career.
Meanwhile, there are some concerns going on at Barcelona. Even though they recently signed Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Emerson and Memphis Depay but there is going to be a problem as these new signings can’t be registered because the club has hit the salary limit of La Liga and have been told to cut their wage bill by €200,000. There is a possibility that players like Philippe Coutinho, Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti will be forced out of the club.
It is also reported that the cost-cutting is happening so as to extend Messi’s contract with the club. The player will face a huge salary cut due to the economic situation of Barcelona.
If the player signs the contract extension, then he will reunite with his countrymen Sergio Aguero who recently left Manchester City after a decade for free and was roped in by Barcelona on a two-year contract.