La Liga authorizes Lionel Messi’s registration

In a major development, AS is reporting that La Liga has authorized the registration of Lionel Messi as a Barcelona player, with an agreement reached between club president Joan Laporta and the Argentine’s father, Jorge Messi also in place.

Messi’s contract situation had been dominating the headlines for quite some time now, with the 34-year-old becoming a free agent at the end of the last month. While a renewal was always expected, La Liga’s Fair Play and salary cap rules were restricting the Catalans from going ahead on the new deal as they first needed to shed massive amounts from their wage bill.

The report adds that those roadblocks have now been dealt with, with La Liga president Javier Tebas accepting the terms offered by Barcelona, as per which Messi will receive a certain amount for the 2021/22 season, which will further be increased after the upcoming campaign.

Barcelona are now hoping that the La Liga president speaks with Jorge Messi to explain why these terms were accepted so that there are no further hitches in the deal.

However, sources close to the Argentina captain have informed AS that there is no need for such a conversation to take place, as those matters are between the club and the league. The source also informed the news outlet that they were yet to be made aware of La Liga ratifying Messi’s registration.

Despite this major development, it is claimed that Paris Saint-Germain are still hoping to convince Messi to switch to France this summer. Any such move though is pretty much ruled out as, as iterated earlier, Laporta and Jorge Messi have reached a total agreement.

If true, this will be a massive boost for Barcelona, who have been struggling to get Messi’s contract renewal over the line. The 34-year-old is currently away on international duty with Argentina at the 2021 Copa America, where he will be taking on Brazil in the finals later tonight.

With the news of his registration as a Barcelona player now breaking, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner will be hoping for a double celebration by winning his first-ever major trophy with La Albiceleste.