Lionel Messi decided to hand in a transfer request after he was told ‘your privileges in the squad are over’ by new Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman.
Koeman, installed almost overnight as Setién’s replacement, after which Messi reportedly told the Dutchman that he saw himself ‘more out of the club than in it’ having cut short his holiday to meet the Dutchman.
Lionel Messi delivered his bombshell after talks with new Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman with Argentine news outlet Diario Ole claiming that Koeman told Messi in a meeting: ‘Your privileges in the squad are over, you have to do everything for the team. I’m going to be inflexible, you have to think about the team.’
The brutally frank exchange reportedly convinced Messi that the time is imminent for him to get into the saddle and leave the ruins of Barcelona.
What totally deluded, obsessive, egotistical maniac would even dare vaguely dream of saying something like that to the GOAT and the undisputed savior of the Blaugrana giants? A self-serving ex-Barca player who had once tasted some measures of glory as a player in a time long past under the legendary Johan Cruyff, of course. Someone obviously with the purile gall and absolute lack of class and breeding who subsequently descended into mediocrity and controversy at best as a manager over the following years.
The dramatic move has subsequently piled the pressure on Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu as irate fans were heard shouting ‘Bartomeu resign!’ outside the club’s headquarters although the humpty dumpty president on Tuesday night still remained adamant on not not considering resigning at all.
Messi immediately communicated to Barcelona via fax on Tuesday his firm decision to leave the club on a free transfer, with the stunning development potentially putting the 33-year-old within reach of a dramatic move to Manchester City and a long-anticipated and glorious reunion with his beloved mentor, Pep Guardiola.
Notably, Manchester United, PSG, Inter Milan and Juventus are also showing deep interest in rolling out the red carpet to welcome the Barca megastar with open arms and delight.
The Argentine journalist close to the player, Veronica Brunati, broke the story on Tuesday and it was subsequently confirmed by sources close to the Catalan club.
Messi’s bold move received immediate praise from Carles Puyol, the former Barca skipper whom Messi had played under, who gladly tweeted: ‘Respect and admiration Leo. All my support, amigo.’
Puyol’s tweet was then applauded in a positive reply from Luis Suarez.
Barcelona desperately claim that the deadline for Messi to leave for free passed in June and will contest the player’s argument that the deadline changed when the season was rearranged after lockdown.
Meanwhile Messi’s camp believes a clause in his contract allowing him to walk away for nothing is still valid because the season ended in August and not May because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Messi is supposed to report for the new season on Sunday for a scheduled coronavirus test but has no intention of meeting up with the new coach or attending Monday’s subsequent first training session.
In the midst of this altercation, there is a growing belief around the club that at least part of the club’s board want Messi to leave with former Barcelona president Joan Laporta accusing Bartomeu of wanting to sell Messi in a tweet published on Tuesday.
‘I suspect they want to sell Messi,’ he said. ‘Poor Barça in the hands of these incompetents.’
Messi earns Є50m (£44m) net a season and that costs the club close to Є100m (£88m) gross a year with tax payments.
The pandemic has left the club in imminent fear of a huge Є300m black hole in revenue for next season, with the wage bill – already making up 60 per cent of income pre-pandemic – would now be swallowing up 80 per cent of revenue and the club desperately needing to find immediate ways to reduce it.
Oddly, Barcelona’s stance towards Messi has changed drastically since the humiliating 8-2 exit to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
President Bartomeu has apparently not spoken to the club captain since the debacle and stick-in-the-mud Koeman has already said he does not want anyone at the club who does not want to be there, clearly a tacit allusion to the Barca talisman and GOAT.
Little wonder Messi has now made it clear he wants out in no uncertain terms.
He reportedly wants to spend next season at Manchester City after moving on from Barcelona, according to Marcelo Bechler.
Bechler had stated in a report earlier this month Messi had intentions to leave Barcelona, which was confirmed by the club Tuesday, per Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden of ESPN.
CBS Sports Champions League correspondent Guillem Balague confirmed that the club received Messi’s message via fax and Barcelona insist that his clause to leave the team before the 2020-21 season has already expired. Barca held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to figure out the next steps, according to CBS Sports transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.
According to ESPN, the indignant superstar had apparently spoken with former mentor and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on the phone last week to discuss a potential move to the Premier League club.
Messi had played for Guardiola from 2008-12, combining to win two Champions League titles in that stretch.
Guardiola has won two Premier League championships with Manchester City, finishing second in the league to Liverpool this year. Adding Messi could potentially and realistically make the Etihad team a hot favorite to win the Premier League again as well as seriously contend for a Champions League title, which has been eluding Guardiola at City.
With Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and others, this could well be the most dynamic attack formation in the world in 2020-21.
Messi has already accumulated six Ballon d’Or trophies as the definitive best player in the world and still remains an elite playmaker, finishing this season with 25 goals and 21 assists in La Liga.
Reports have it that Manchester City had already been busy with calculator in hand busy “crunching the numbers” to see if they can sign Messi without breaking the Financial Fair Play rules. If the money angle works out, it would appear to be an ideal match for everyone involved, except for Barca, needless to say.
Guardiola stepped down as Barca’s manager in 2012 after spending the majority of his career with the club. According to the reports, he is open to the possibility of transferring Messi to the Red Devils, as the club plans to spend around £300m on “reinforcement”.
The pair teamed up to devastating affect during a four-year spell at Barcelona and Guardiola has consistently hailed Messi as the world’s greatest player.
City also have the financial might to pull off such a deal and have a host of Messi’s former acquaintances at the Etihad.
Manchester City aside, Inter Milan have also had a long standing interest in the player that dates back over 10 years. That could give them an upper hand should they come to the negotiation table but will face huge competition from the likes of Juventus, PSG and Manchester United, who are also reported to have cued themselves into the picture.
The latter two would also have the finances to help fashion such a deal, particularly the Parisiene club, with their president, Nasser Al-Khelafi adamant after their loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League finals that he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that PSG garner Champions League glory soon. A big man with the equally much-needed big bucks to back his claims. He obviously also has his own ace in his hand with Neymar as the attractive lure to win over Messi if City were to somehow fail in their bid to sign Messi.
PSG boss Thomas Tuchel had ‘joked’ after the Champions League Final that no coach would turn their nose up at the six-time Ballon D’Or winner. That’s revealing quite a lot considering that the German coach himself would be in the frame of mind to voice such a bold sentiment despite the likelihood of him being evicted from the Parc des Princes after the loss to Bayern. Like they say, there’s no smoke wihout a fire.
Messi’s plan to move to City would make sense for a variety of compelling reasons, not the least of which being City actually having the economic resources to acquire him, and on top of that, some of Messi’s best years were under current manager Pep Guardiola. The additional icing on the cake is that Messi’s close friend Sergio Aguero plays for the club.
Messi joined Barca in 2001 as a youth player and made his debut for the senior side in 2004. Since then, he’s won every trophy multiple times and has scored 634 goals in 731 games for the club, putting together what is viewed by many as the greatest individual career in history.
Lionel Messi deserves to go wherever he chooses to. He has given his all, his unquestioned best, to the club wherein he served loyally with an unblemished, spectacular world-beating record for close to 20 long years.
Lionel Messi is, after all, as Thomas Tuchel labeled him, ‘Mr Barcelona’.
Not Bartomeu, and certainly not Ronald Koeman. These two Barnum & Bailey circus clowns totally deserve each other.