After a gruelling three-day negotiation period to sort out his exit, Lionel Messi has announced that he will remain at FC Barcelona for the 2020/21 campaign. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner decided to leave his boyhood club after the humiliating 8-2 defeat at the hands of European Champions Bayern Munich.
Messi has not been pleased with the club administrators as well as the progress of the team over the last four years. The Argentine International has had a well-detailed battle with club President Josep Bartomeu and former club football director Eric Abidal.
However, Abidal and the club mutually ended the latter’s contract while Bartomeu was willing to step down so that Messi will remain at the club. Messi intended to trigger a clause in his contract which would allow him to leave the club in June. However, the season was extended due to the effect of the global pandemic and Messi was not able to trigger the clause in June.
However, in his official statement, Messi made it clear that he was told that he could leave the club at the end of the season if he wanted to. Club President Josep Bartomeu made that promise to Messi.
After Messi made his intentions known to the club, the board refused his proposal to leave for free. The Barcelona board of directors told Messi that he can only leave if his 624-million-pound release clause is triggered. Financial fair play rules would not allow any club to sign a player for such an exorbitant price tag. Also, no club would be willing to spend that amount of money on a 33-year-old who has never plied his trade outside Spain.
Asides the buyout clause, the other option for Messi leaving the club would be both parties going to court. A legal hearing is not what Messi wanted because of his affection to the club that has done so much for him and his family.
Messi’s father had two meetings with Barcelona President to try and secure an exit for his son but it was not successful. La Liga also backed up Barcelona’s decision to retain the £624 million buyout clause. The 5 feet 5 play-maker will now spend one more season at the club he has played for all his life and can then leave the club for free at the end of the 2020/21 season.