Why Lionel Messi didn’t return to Barcelona – despite both wanting a deal

It wasn’t that easy, but just like any team that desired to acquire Messi — and any transfer Barcelona aimed to accomplish in the last two summers — senior sources at Barcelona were anxious to bring him back. Out of all the offers he had, Barcelona was Lionel Messi’s favored choice.

Instead, he has now relocated to Inter Miami, a team in Major League Soccer.

“But speaking in a more composed manner,” stated Messi during an interview with Sport and Mundo Deportivo. “Certainly, I will maintain the identical obligation in my occupation and the ambition to triumph in all aspects while carrying out tasks correctly. Following my triumph in the World Cup and the unfortunate inability to reunite with Barcelona, it became apparent that it was the appropriate time to venture into the MLS and experience football from a different standpoint, relishing in my everyday life to a greater extent. Although I received proposals from another European club, I never even contemplated them since my sole intention in Europe was to ultimately make a comeback to Barcelona.”

Messi ensures that he would be enrolled with the team, Barcelona could not, as it currently stood, provide. It would be exceedingly challenging to finalize an agreement for Messi, last week, undisclosed Barcelona insiders revealed, as they were not authorized to disclose this transfer.

Whether or not they have the ability to pay them, it is irrelevant. They cannot utilize them in the league and consequently cannot enroll a player if a team surpasses their designated limit — which is determined by their financial performance in previous seasons — La Liga has regulations regarding salary limits. This has been a persistent problem for Barcelona.

He joined Paris Saint-Germain, but ultimately departed as they were incapable of enrolling him owing to the salary limit regulation, despite the fact that he had reached an agreement for a fresh agreement after Messi’s departure from Barcelona in 2021. This predicament was the main concern.

The registration of Kounde occurred right before the window closed. Barcelona initiated ‘financial mechanisms’ after the season started to enroll Lewandowski, Kessie, Christensen, and Raphinha. Barcelona completed the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Kounde in the previous summer. The departure of Messi did not mark its conclusion.

The viability plan of Barcelona for the upcoming season has been given the green light by La Liga, albeit with certain conditions. Despite exceeding their salary cap, they are still subject to limitations. La Liga will permit Barcelona to allocate only 40 percent of their earnings from sales and loans towards new signings. For example, if they were to sell a player and consequently reduce their salary expenses by €100 million, they would be eligible to recruit a player with a maximum salary of €40 million.

Athletic Bilbao has officially announced the signing of defender Inigo Martinez. With the approval of the viability plan, they are now able to finalize new contracts for Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Sergi Roberto, and Marcos Alonso.

Consequently, Barcelona had to seek additional resources in order to secure Messi’s signature. Moreover, they had a limited timeframe to accomplish this.

In order to enroll him, they would have required to allocate approximately £70m in funds for salaries. Messi had already verbally agreed with the team that he would receive a yearly wage of about €25m (£21m).

Fati Ansu and Kessie Franck could be potential players, along with Torres Ferran. Even the head coach Xavi has not spoken to these players yet, indicating that Barcelona would struggle to close big sales in the near future. Messi clearly wanted a swift decision and a lot to do for Barcelona at a fast pace.

The conversations about Messi’s decision are still happening, but they are not expected to happen sooner than later. Xavi essentially told the players that they would see him when the pre-season begins on July 10th, after returning from their friendly in Japan.

As the player was becoming fatigued, Messi felt the added pressure to impress people, but he did not think this was necessary. In recent interviews, Messi essentially pointed out that he would need Xavi and other players to be sold in order to have the power to make decisions. If Messi had decided to wait, this would have been the only way for Barcelona to complete the deal.

To have the ability to accomplish that, they would have very little trust in him, so they decided to leave him due to the trauma. His level of trust within the club has decreased significantly, and it served as a severe warning based on his previous experience dealing with Barcelona. There was a serious risk involved in waiting for Messi.

Barcelona arrived in Japan for Tuesday’s friendly against Vissel Kobe, right before an important encounter between Laporta and Jorge Messi occurred. Similarly, Barcelona informed him at the eleventh hour that he would need to depart, as they were unable to officially include him in the team, just like what happened two years ago.

A close source, who has remained anonymous, said that Messi, who has not been given permission to speak about the decision, stated: “We can now expect what will happen when their relationships go through a rough patch; if the relationship between Barcelona and La Liga is less or more fine, they will eventually kick us out in 2021.”

I did not want to find myself in the same situation of waiting for whatever may happen, so I left the club at the same time as everyone else, but I wanted to come back “last night,” Messi said.

Another concern was the cost-cutting actions being implemented within the club, Barcelona. Several departments at the club were already executing measures to fight against their financial problems, which raised concerns among regular employees about job security. Additionally, the club had also planned to cut 15 percent of their budget across various sports, including futsal, hockey, handball, and basketball.

Throughout the years, he has fostered positive connections with Barca TV staff members. His initial interviews and early footage of him playing for Barcelona as a young player were captured by Barca TV, the club’s internal network that will cease operations in the upcoming summer. Messi’s team emphasized the discomfort of having his association with this network in recent weeks. He shares a unique bond with Barca TV.

I heard that Barcelona wants to sell players or make pay cuts, but I didn’t wanna go through with it because it makes me feel responsible. He said something about liking this, but I want to move to Miami to confirm if this is the truth.

PSG Paris Saint-Germain swiftly sorted out Messi’s future after his exit, ensuring that all his concerns were addressed within a week or less.

Given the odd meeting on Monday between Messi’s father, Jorge, and Barcelona president Joan Laporta, this desperate last-minute attempt seems partly like a solution of optics. Even if it seemed impossible to happen, it’s a good look for Barcelona if they make every effort to put a deal together, considering Messi’s love for the club and his keenness to return to his footballing ‘home’.

Following in the footsteps of renowned players such as Pele and David Beckham, he is set to begin his career in the MLS with Inter Miami after relocating to the United States.

In 2021, similar to his departure, Messi’s fate has ultimately relied on Barcelona’s financial situation and the regulations of La Liga. Although Messi will not be making a sentimental comeback to Barcelona this summer, it is evident that neither party lacks the desire or effort.