Lionel Messi Transfer: PSG superstar Lionel Messi’s contract expires at the end of the season. PSG have been trying to sign a new deal with Messi for quite some time, but it has been in vain. In the meantime, Barcelona have also been trying to bring their star player back to Spain. Now, transfer news expert Gerard Romero said that La Liga President believes that Leo Messi might have reached an agreement with Joan Laporta and Barcelona. Follow La Liga LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Gerard Romero is a Spanish transfer news expert who gave the most reliable source on Barcelona’s transfer activities for the 2022-23 season. He gave several exclusive news on player signings, especially the signings of Jules Kounde and Raphinha. Now and again, he has also been giving exclusive news on the possibility of Lionel Messi coming back to Barcelona.
On that topic, it was Gerard Romero who reported that Lionel Messi’s house in Spain was being readied for his return. He also gave the news that if needed, Lionel Messi is ready to take a pay cut to come back to Barcelona. Now, he has reported that La Liga President Javier Tebas believes that Barcelona have already closed a deal with Lionel Messi for him to get back his #10 jersey from next season.
According to a Catalan digital newspaper, Javier Tebas has been getting ready after considering that news. Apparently, he has been planning for the next season taking into account that Messi will play under his former teammate Xavi. Messi’s return could be very fruitful for La Liga from a commercial point of view.
Commercially, La Liga had to take a dive for the worse twice. Once was when Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid in 2018 and then again when Lionel Messi left Barcelona in 2021. Both players are considered two greatest players of this generation. Hence, they bring a lot of jersey and merchandise sales along with several huge sponsorship deals wherever they go.
🗣️ Gerard Romero: “La Liga believes Leo Messi has already agreed to a return.” pic.twitter.com/MrVs1ynZVJ
— Barça Worldwide (@BarcaWorldwide) April 14, 2023
However, even though La Liga would benefit to a great amount, they still haven’t agreed on Barcelona’s plans to bring back Lionel Messi. Barcelona have not been able to sort out their financial issues yet. Hence, to bring back Lionel Messi, who already earns £33 million per year at PSG. Hence, even if Messi takes a 50% pay cut, Barcelona will still have to manage to pay over £15 million per year.
As per reports, Javier Tebas publicly warned Barcelona that they will need to shave at least £176 million from their wage bill if they want to bring back Lionel Messi. This amount satisfies the same salary cap which caused Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona in 2021. Gerard Romero also reported that Barce presented a viability plan at the end of March to La Liga on how they will afford Lionel Messi. However, Tebas turned it down, so Barcelona will have to work harder on new plans and present that to La Liga again.
