BARCELONA: Money came between Barcelona and Lionel Messi.

Barca said the player wanted to stay. The club wanted the same.

They even shook hands on a deal.

But in the end the club’s dire financial situation made it impossible.

Letting Messi go was the only way of saving the club, and just like that Messi’s era at Barca came to an end.

President Joan Laporta said on Friday that keeping the Argentina star “would be risky and not even the greatest player in the world was worth jeopardising the clubs future”.

“We think Barcelona is above all,” Laporta said. “The club is over 100 years old and is above everyone, even above the best player in the world. The club goes over players, coaches, presidents.”

Laporta spoke a day after the club announced the negotiations with Messi had ended.

Laporta blamed Barca’s previous administration for the clubs dire financial situation, which kept it from fitting Messi’s new contract within La Liga’s fair play regulations.

He said he hoped the league would have been more flexible with its rules but understood that it couldn’t make an exception even if that meant losing Messi.

“There are objective reasons regarding the economical situation at the club and an investment of that volume with the contract of Messi was risky,” Laporta said. “We wanted to assume those risks, but when we realised the real situation of the club after the audit, it meant that we would have put the club in great risk.”

Laporta said Barca were no longer negotiating with Messi and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner was considering other offers.

“Yesterday we realised it was over. I had the last conversation with Leo’s father,” said Laporta. “I do not want to give false hope. The player has other offers and there is a time limit because La Liga starts soon and he needs time to assess his other options.”

He said Messi and the club did everything to make the contract work but it wasn’t possible without hurting Barca’s finances.

“There comes a moment when you need to say enough. You need to analyse rigorously with a cold head and look at the numbers,” Laporta said. “And in La Liga we have to abide by the rules. We think they could be more flexible, but that’s not an excuse, we knew the regulation. We couldn’t abide by it because of the inheritance we had.”

Laporta said Barca’s losses doubled from about 200 million euros ($235 million) to 400 million euros ($475 million). The club’s debt recently was at more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), and that wasn’t only because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“There is no margin after a calamitous situation that was all down to the previous board of administration,” he said.

Former president Josep Bartomeu resigned last year along with his board of directors amid his fallout with Messi and the club’s financial struggles.

La Liga has prided itself in having some of the stricter economic controls for clubs in Europe, keeping them from overspending and going into heavy debt. With these controls it was able to create a much stable and stronger league in the last few years.

Barca’s salary cap, which is roughly proportional to 70% of a club’s revenue, was expected to be slashed even further this season. Laporta said for every 25 million the club spends on a player, it has to make up 100 million in cap space, which is not an easy process. He said the club was already at its limit without the Messi contract.

Laporta said new funding recently secured by the league worth 2.7 billion euros ($3.2 billion) would have helped but the club was against the deal because it would have hurt the teams broadcasting rights revenues for the next 50 years.

“We are not going to increase our salary limit by selling our audiovisual rights for the next 50 years,” Laporta said. “This decision would have been risky.”

Messi is leaving after leading Barca into their most glorious years. He helped the club win 35 titles, including the Champions League four times, the La Liga 10 times, the Copa del Rey seven times and the Spanish Super Cup eight times.

Messi tried to leave Barca for free last year but was forced to stay after the club told him an exit clause in his contract had expired. He set aside his disappointment under coach Ronald Koeman, finishing last season as La Liga’s top scorer and scoring 38 goals in 47 games in all competitions.

His form, and Laporta’s re-election as president, changed the dynamic and the expectation was Messi would sign a new deal this summer. But Messi’s contract expired and as the new La Liga season approached, doubts grew, culminating in Barca releasing a statement on Thursday confirming Messi’s departure.

“Leo wanted to stay, so he is not happy,” Laporta said. “We all wanted him to stay. But for him right now it’s a situation in which he has to confront reality. It’s a reality that can’t be changed. I wish him the best wherever he goes.”

Laporta told Barca’s club captains — Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto — on Thursday, before informing the rest of the squad in person on Friday morning.

“The squad has a strange feeling, a certain sadness,” said Laporta. “I have told the players that a new stage in Barca’s history is beginning and that we have to continue winning without Messi. There is maximum commitment and professionalism.”

Messi was yet to make any public statements, and there was no immediate news on his future. Paris St Germain are expected to lead the chase for Messi but Manchester City, who attempted to sign him last year, could also join the bidding.

PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters on Friday that Messi is an “option” that is being evaluated by the club, without elaborating.

City coach Pep Guardiola said the Premier League champions had no plans to make a move for Messi.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2021