Extending the contract of the Argentinian Lionel Messi would have represented a financial "risk" for FC Barcelona, which is currently in great difficulty, declared its president Joan Laporta on Friday (August 6th).
The latter said he did what was "best for the interests" of the club.
Leo Messi, who is leaving Barca after more than twenty years together, has "other proposals", added the manager, without revealing which clubs courted the player.
According to some specialized media, his entourage is in contact with PSG and its Qatari leaders.
Thank you, Leo.
pic.twitter.com/cdS9xWe8Me
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 5, 2021
At the end of the contract last June, the six-fold Ballon d'Or found himself at 34 free to sign where he wanted, a thunderclap even as the Spanish press expected the imminent conclusion of the agreement between the two. parts.
"Sad farewell to a stupendous era"
"Drama, Messi is going!", Headlines the Barcelona sports daily Sport, while Mundo Deportivo, another Catalan sports newspaper, underlines the "bomb" represented by the departure of the "Pulga" (La Puce).
El Periodico for its part displays an "Incredible" on the front page with a photo of the famous number 10 from the back while La Vanguardia, the great generalist daily in Barcelona, shows a photo of the Argentinian greeting the public and writes in front page "Messi, sad farewell to a stupendous era ".
For the daily El Pais, "nobody expected such a bizarre abandonment" of Laporta who had promised the supporters of the club that he would manage to keep Messi.
This departure marks "a financial, sporting and moral bankruptcy" of the Catalan club, judges the first general daily newspaper in the country.
With AFP
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