Bluff or real weariness? Can Messi really leave Barca?

• Lionel Messi let Barça know on Tuesday evening that he wanted "unilaterally" to terminate his contract, which normally expires in 2021. 
• A decision that has the effect of a bomb, as everyone thought the Argentine linked forever with the club blaugran. 
• Does he really want to leave? Can he, quite simply? The questions abound the day after this explosion. 

Tuesday evening, hearing the news, we could not help but dream. Or delirious, it depends. Imagine two seconds, what if Lionel Messi came to PSG? “Frankly, it plays with Messi-Neymar-Mbappé in front, the rest you put that defenders we do not care. "" First match at Gaston-Gérard, just to put him in the bath. “We must take advantage of it, no one could imagine that the Argentinian would one day come to this with his club of always.

😢 "Estoy FATAL ... Esperaba que este DÍA NO LLEGARA NUNCA". @cristobalsoria, desolado in #ChiringuitoMessi pic.twitter.com/VRDc341rCJ

But with a night of hindsight, we still wonder if a departure from the six-fold Golden Ball can really happen. What are his underlying motivations? What does his contract say? Is it just conceivable that a club will offer him what he wants, in the midst of the Covid crisis and the era of financial fair play? So many questions that stir the world of football this Wednesday morning.

Why did it come to this?

What transpires from all this is first of all an enormous weariness. The Argentinian, 33, sees season after season his leaders make bad choices after bad choices, whether at the level of coaches or rookies. "He judges the sports management of the club as a real calamity," writes the Sport newspaper on Wednesday. "It's not a bloody blow, it's a carefully considered decision," adds Marca . Messi believes his warnings have not been heeded and has therefore decided to use the hard way. In detail, here are the elements that pushed him to act:

• The dismissal, last January, of Ernesto Valverde, to whom he was close, and his replacement by Quique Setien, with whom he has no feeling.
• The criticisms of Eric Abidal on the responsibility of the players in the dismissal of Valverde, precisely, and more generally of the management when it was question of a decrease in wages during the confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• The failure of negotiations to bring Neymar back to the club last summer.
• The Griezmann case and the fact that he was blamed for the failure to integrate the Frenchman.
• The way Luis Suarez was told he wouldn't be kept.
• A last discussion with Ronald Koeman, the new trainer supposed to restart the machine, who did not seduce him at all. “He still waited to hear the coach's proposal for this new season. He was not convinced and he considers that at his age, if he wants to continue winning titles and stay at the top of football, Barça is not the best option, ”writes Sport.

Simple pressure?

This is an option that should not be ruled out. The Argentinian is a regular. Faced with the first rumors announcing his desire to leave, a few weeks ago, the Spanish newspapers recalled that he regularly used this string to obtain a raise / the signature of a friend / the resignation of a coach. Except that he had never gone so far as to send an official letter to his management.

If so, the least we can say is that he has pulled it off. The Argentine received the support of Carles Puyol on Tuesday evening. It's hard to do better when it comes to Barça. That the former captain and legend of the Blaugrana club expresses himself thus says a lot about what he thinks of the management of the club in recent seasons.

💣💣 BOMBA MESSI

'Se quiere ir' en nuestra portada de este miércoles #portada #deporte https://t.co/QubdoAoe42 pic.twitter.com/sP8ihzOjmo

In any case, Lionel Messi and his advisers will come up against legal considerations. The player does have a clause allowing him to leave free at the end of each season if he wishes, but it expired on June 10, according to Catalan management, contacted by the team . "He is linked to the club until the end of next season," said the club, and if Messi wants to leave, he must now pay his release clause set at 700 million euros. A sum that leaves no door open, of course.

“The war is open, launches the daily Marca . The club will fight tooth and nail to ensure that this release clause, which expired on paper on June 10, cannot be enforced, although Leo and his entourage argue that there is a legal basis. "

Can he cause Josep Bartomeu to leave?

Several Spanish media have reported on a crisis meeting at Barça, a few hours after Messi's shattering announcement, after which President Josep Bartomeu reportedly announced his decision. It is not so far, at least officially. But for many connoisseurs of the situation, the resignation of the president (and with him the entire executive board) is the only chance to see Messi stay. "Bartomeu and his board must resign immediately," says the former club president Joan Laporta. There would still be hope that Messi will stay at Barca. "

Laporta's fight is not trivial. Former president, he also wants to become so again in the next elections scheduled for March. Until then, Bartomeu is supposed to stay in charge of the club unless the pressure gets too much. Supporters gathered on Tuesday night under his windows at Camp Nou to demand his resignation. Hated by Messi, he would be considered the sole responsible for leaving the Argentine. Part of the Spanish press, Marca in the lead, nevertheless ensures that Bartomeu has planned to "face up" and not let go, as he is used to in a storm. But new fan demonstrations were planned today in Barcelona. What to make him change his mind?

Barça supporters gathered on the outskirts of Camp Nou to demand the resignation of President Bartomeu on Tuesday evening. - Alejandro Garcia / EFE / SIPA

Who could afford it?

Unless he forgot to renew his subscription to news channels, Messi probably did not miss this story of coronavirus. The world economy is weighed down, and that of football clubs too. In other words, this is not the best season to decide to leave his club in a shattering transfer. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why if Messi really seeks to leave the club, he wants to play the clause that would allow him to break his contract with Barcelona and therefore leave the free club.

But even without transfer fees, few clubs can afford Messi. And at his current salary estimated at 70 million euros gross per season, in reality, no one. But Messi has just turned 33, has decided to leave himself and will want a team capable of winning the Champions League. If he has all of this, he'll probably be willing to put in some little financial effort to make the deal possible.

The Italian daily "Corriere della Sera" explained that it is possible that Adidas intervenes to try to bring Lionel #Messi to the #Juventus!

[@Corriere] pic.twitter.com/XQvEve7O0g

Once we have said all that, there are still more people at the gate. Come on, let's count 8 clubs maximum: Bayern, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Juve, Inter, the two clubs of Manchester and PSG. For the first two, this kind of recruitment would not be the style of the house. For the third, it is impossible unless you want to start a civil war. Juve do not have the means and Inter, despite their recurring interest in Messi, is undoubtedly not yet at the level. So remains United, Paris and City.

On Tuesday evening, the Brazilian journalist who announced Neymar's arrival in Paris three summers ago, Marcelo Bechler, claimed that Messi had spoken to Pep Guardiola and would have chosen to join City. Information that can be described as reliable, because Bechler was the first to have announced the departure desires of Messi, on August 16.

Messi quer jogar no Manchester City. Trata a saída do Barcelona como algo que dói na alma, mas o fim de um ciclo pic.twitter.com/FVMPDvB7Go

For its part, PSG can not be insensitive to the idea of ​​creating a Neymar-Mbappé-Messi attack. But it is difficult to see how the deal could be done, while Paris has announced losses of around 120 million euros over the 2019-2020 financial year due to the crisis. It's hard to imagine how an operation of such a scale could take place (especially since PSG must also strengthen itself in other positions), but not totally impossible either. For now, despite everything, there are no signs of negotiations between the vice-champion of Europe and the entourage of Messi.

Finally, Spanish media have been reporting the beginnings of negotiations between the Argentine and Manchester United since Tuesday. Prestigious club full of sorrel, but moderately competitive team at European level for the moment. It is difficult to imagine the Mancunian club as anything other than a fallback solution.

Sport

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