Former Barcelona presidency candidate recalls ‘most serious club mistake in history’

August 5, 2023, marked the two-year anniversary of Lionel Messi’s departure from FC Barcelona. 

Back when the Argentina captain was still a Culé, Barcelona had managed to reach a financial agreement after several players from the roster were asked to defer their wages.

As it turns out, those efforts still fell short as Messi was left in tears during a press conference as everyone announced he would not continue beyond his contract “despite having reached an agreement that cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles in the Spanish La Liga.”

It has been two years since Messi’s departure and Víctor Font, a former candidate for the presidency of Barça in the last elections, reacted to the event by describing it as “the most serious mistake in the club’s recent history.”

L’errada més greu de la història recent del Club 💔 https://t.co/shkRUq9l6J

— Víctor Font (@victor_font) August 6, 2023

Why did Lionel Messi leave Barcelona?

Barcelona’s battle with dwindling finances was one of the reasons why they could not afford to keep Messi beyond his initial contract.

The La Liga salary cap rule just did not allow Barcelona to keep him at the club despite the Argentine reportedly accepting to lower his wages by 50%.

Now, it is said that club president Joan Laporta did not expect La Liga to be so strict on the matter.

After all, Messi was the only face of the league after Cristiano Ronaldo had left Real Madrid for Juventus.

Above all, another reason they were forced to sell him was that Barcelona’s debts largely contributed to a reduced spending cap.

In 2021, Blaugrana’s wage limit was cut from almost €600 million to under €100 million.

This means that they were only permitted to spend 25% of what they have saved. So even with a 50% wage cut, they were unable to register Messi in the league.

Two years on, Messi now plays for David Beckham’s Inter Miami in the United States’ Major League Soccer where he has scored five goals in a mere three appearances till the date of writing.