July 02, (THEWILL) – The lingering circumstances surrounding the contract of Lionel Messi and La Liga side Barcelona which resulted in the running down of his previous contract has encouraged Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain to send the iconic forward an offer to join them.
This is reminiscent of how the former champions of the French League swooped in at the last minute and stole the transfer of Liverpool’s Dutch player, Georginio Wijnaldum, right from under Barca’s noses after they were already in advanced negotiations to bring the Dutchman to the Catalan club.
As THEWILL reported, Messi became a free agent on Thursday morning after his Barcelona contract expired at midnight on Wednesday with no concrete contract signed by way of an extension for Barca’s talismanic number 10.
Although reports monitored by THEWILL have it that Messi and Barca have agreed on the terms of a new two-year deal, La Liga regulations cannot allow the Argentine to sign it until one of two things happen. Barca must further cut their wage limit to the target set by La Liga, or bring in massive cash flow from investors.
Previous spending indiscipline and the pandemic has seen the club go over the salary cap and La Blaugrana can only reinvest 25% of what they make. This means that even with a pay-cut, a fresh Messi contract is going to be worth a significant amount that will unbalance their structure as it stands.
Yet, this has not discouraged Barcelona president Joan Laporta. The Spanish politician and businessman remains largely optimistic about the situation and believes it is only a matter of time before everything is resolved. He was quoted as saying: “Messi wants to stay and we want Messi to stay.”
However, these wishes cannot stop other teams approaching Messi, who is now free to leave Barca, with an offer exactly as PSG has demonstrated by sending an offer to the Argentine’s representatives to indicate their resolve.
Meanwhile, the 34-year-old is with compatriots in Brazil for the Copa America, focussed on preparing for their meeting with Ecuador in their quarter-final on Saturday. For all his genius, Messi is still without a major international trophy. He will try again this time before his thoughts return to club concerns.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
