La Liga president claims Messi’s departure had ‘zero’ impact on the league

Lionel Messi’s departure from Barcelona last summer came as a major shock to the footballing world.

The Argentine international left Camp Nou on a free transfer, signing for Paris Saint-Germain after the Catalans were unable to renew his contract due to the Financial Fair Play regulations and the club’s own economic conditions.

Messi’s departure has hurt Barça on the pitch and on the financial front as well, as alluded to by director Mateu Alemany in a recent interview.

However, La Liga president Javier Tebas has sensationally claimed that the departure of the Argentina captain has had zero impact on the Spanish top-flight in terms of financial aspects, claiming that it was the same case when Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018.

As quoted by ESPN, he said: “No. Zero. A one-off departure by a star or two, just as it happened with Cristiano [Ronaldo] doesn’t affect [us]. If you look at it, Serie A did not grow with Cristiano.”

However, Tebas did mention that the timing of Messi’s exit was painful as La Liga were entering a new partnership with ESPN, but insisted that the league was in a good position despite losing two of its biggest superstars in the last four years.

“We signed [in May 2021] an eight-year [rights] agreement with ESPN,” Tebas said. “Do you think they know who will play in LaLiga in eight years’ time? Neither they nor anyone knows that. But they know it’s a financially sound league and that there will always be good players.”

Since moving to PSG, Messi has failed to hit the heights expected of him and has had a largely slow start to his career in France. His exit has left a big hole in this Barcelona side, but the team is pulling forward under the tutelage of Xavi Hernandez.