The Lionel Messi renewal saga took the sharpest of tangential turns when exit rumors started to hit the fan and within a couple of hours, Barcelona shockingly announced his departure.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason why everyone assumed things were going well with Messi\u2019s extension was because president Joan Laporta had kept reassuring everyone that the negotiations were progressing well all along. Hence no foulplay of any sort was expected, especially from a former club president who had sealed his presidential return based solely on his campaign promise of making sure club talisman Messi would never leave the club.<\/p>\n
More importantly, La Liga\u2019s bumper deal with CVC meant an injection of cash into the clubs, with Barcelona getting nearly \u20ac270 million, making Leo\u2019s registration easy.<\/p>\n
Oddly since then, Laporta has publicly talked the club out of the deal, explaining how it would impact the Blaugrana for at least five decades to come. In a sudden turnaround, La Liga president Javier Tebas has hit out at Laporta, saying that the latter had initially agreed to the deal at a dinner they had earlier.<\/p>\n