Laporta talks Messi situation: “The club is above everything, even the greatest player of all time”

Joan Laporta addressed the media to explain the situation surrounding Lionel Messi’s contract and the shock news of him not re-signing with Barcelona.

Barcelona made the official announcement on Thursday evening that Messi would be leaving the club despite having reached a contract agreement, due to the financial restrictions and La Liga’s salary cap rules.

The situation and the consequences

Elaborating on that in his press conference. president Laporta clarified that the club were in no position to afford the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s wages as there was no room left on the salary bill.

“First of all, I’d like to say that the inheritance we have received is awful. We don’t have any margin in terms of salary. The laws and regulations of La Liga is ruled by Financial Fair Play. We knew that beforehand, but the numbers that they presented us after the audit were worse than they had presented initially.

“What we are spending is a lot more than we expected. We have this salary mass of great magnitude, and it allows for no margin. We couldn’t fit in the contract we had with Messi due to Financial Fair Play.”

The CVC deal

Laporta then explained that in order to sign Messi back, Barcelona would have had to agree to a television rights deal for 50 years, which would not have been in the best interest of the club. He added that the club is above all, even if it is the greatest player of all time.

“In order to register Messi, the club had to agree a contract that would affect the club for 50 years in terms of television rights. I can’t make a decision that will affect the club for the next 50 years. The club is over 100 years old, and above everything, and everyone. Even the greatest player of all time.”

The Barcelona president also clarified that Messi wanted to continue at Camp Nou, while the club, too, had every intention of re-signing him, saying: “Messi wanted to stay at Barça. We wanted him to stay. It was the first step that was made, a key factor.”

Laporta then went on to add that all efforts had been made to ensure that Messi was re-signed but at one point, the club had to take a stand, insisting that the decision was taken in the best interest of FC Barcelona.

“After all of the negotiation process, there comes a moment where you need to say ‘enough’. You need to analyze it, and look at the numbers. In La Liga, we need to abide by the rules. Messi has proven that he loves Barça. He has his roots for Barcelona. If you allow me a personal thought: I’m sad, but I’m confident that we did the best at the interest of FC Barcelona,” he said.

Messi’s legacy

When asked what was the legacy that Lionel Messi would leave behind at Barca, Laporta waxed lyrical over the former captain, saying: “Leo made history. He is the player with the most success in the history of the club. He has been the reference of an era which has been the best of our history up until today.” However, he then added, “A new era starts today.”

Laporta was also asked if there was any chance that there could be a U-turn on the situation. But the president said that he did not want to give out any false hopes. “I don’t want to generate false hope. During the negotiations, we have seen that the players had offers from other teams too. The player needs time to evaluate his options,” he claimed.

Laporta also shed light on how Messi tried to ease the burden on the club by accepting a lower wage, saying, “Messi tried to make it easy for us. The first offer was a 2-year salary being paid in 5. We thought it would be allowed in the regulations, but it was not. It is all part of a process from La Liga.

“We wanted the post-Messi era to start in two years, but taking the circumstances into account, we had to bring it forward. Making a decision that would affect our television rights for the next 50 years is not something we could accept. Barça goes above players, coaches, and presidents.”

Salary cuts and new signings

The topic then moved to other Barcelona players accepting wage cuts, to which Laporta said that the situation was more complex than it seemed from the outside, while insisting there are some who have accepted to lower their wages, while talks with a few more are underway.

“The ratio we have in the salary limit is 4 to 1. So we had to release €100m to save €25m. That’s a lot. With some players we reached agreements, and with others, we are working. It’s not an easy process.

“Some players have already accepted a salary reduction in previous negotiations, but it’s not easy. Maybe we’ll have to make other decisions but they are not a guarantee of anything. It’s a risky situation for the club and all requires time.”

Laporta then addressed the situation surrounding the new signings Memphis Depay and Emerson Royal and how Barcelona were able to bring them in but not renew Messi’ contract. “People are asking ‘How can we sign Depay, Aguero, how can we sign Emerson?’. Because these are people that have accepted certain conditions on their wages, and we are thankful for that,” he said.

On whether Barcelona could make new signings, with or without Messi on the books, Laporta appeared non-committal, stating: “The negotiation with Messi has ended, without being able to formalize the agreement because of the salary limit.”

Tribute plans

The Catalans’ president also lamented over the fact that the club would not be able to pay a tribute to Messi with fans in the stadium due to prevalent circumstances from the Covid outbreak. “We can’t pay tribute to Messi in a way we wanted to do in two years with fans in the stands due to Covid. Now the circumstances are what they are,” he claimed.

However, he did add that, he was positive that the new era of Barcelona post Messi, will be a successful one. “We want the post-Messi era to be successful, and I’m convinced it will be. We are more motivated than ever.”

Responsibility and the blame game

One of the reporters present then asked Laporta if he felt responsible for making false promises over Messi’s contract when he was elected as president. But, he insisted that the numbers that were just worse from what they had perceived initially, which made the deal impossible, while also seeming to blame La Liga for their strict regulations.

“No, no I don’t. I have said several times that we’ll do everything to make sure Messi stays. We reached an agreement but were not able to formalize due to the economic situation. The situation is even worse than the numbers they had presented to us initially. So we got from bad to worse.

“I said negotiations are going well because we reached an economical agreement. I expected La Liga to be more flexible in their regulations,” he said. “La Liga wants Messi in La Liga, of course they do, and I know that. But there are also clubs that want the rules to be abided by, and they can’t make an exception, even if it means Messi is out of La Liga.”

When quizzed again as to what would be the situation with regard to any potential arrivals after Messi’s confirmed departure, Laporta once again did not give much away, saying: “Well, everyone is working on the situation and now we have a little bit of more margin to see if we can find a solution, but we’re at the limit even without Leo – we don’t have margin.”

Asked as to when Messi was made aware of the decision, Laporta claimed: “Two days ago I reached the conclusion that we had to say ‘It’s enough, we can’t do it’, and I reached out to Leo’s father.

“Messi wanted to stay, so he is not happy. We all wanted to stay, but it’s a reality that cannot be changed, and he knows that I wish him the best wherever he goes. Barça is his home.”