Barcelona lost Lionel Messi to Paris Saint Germain earlier in the summer, and club president Joan Laporta has now revealed. Still, the pressure from the Spanish league authorities forced them to sanction the Argentine’s departure.
Barcelona had an agreement with Lionel Messi regarding a contract renewal.
However, La Liga proposed that they wouldn’t accept such an agreement unless Barcelona accepted the Spanish league’s deal with CVC.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have heavily opposed La Liga’s agreement with the CVC investment firm.
The Spanish league authorities are willing to give the investment firm control of a certain percentage of the league’s revenues for the next few decades in return for a cash injection right now.
The two Spanish clubs are against such an agreement, and they want more financial freedom.
Therefore, La Liga were strict with their salary regulations, and Barcelona could not afford a new contract for Lionel Messi. Laporta has claimed that the deal would not have been financially viable even with the departure of Griezmann and the salary reduction of the key players.
He said: “There is objective data. Everyone can compare it. We were pressured that we would either sign the CVC loan [deal] or there is no fair play.
“There was no margin. There was a pre-agreement [with Messi], and we had shaken hands. There were several agreements, and La Liga seemed to accept it, but then they said no without CVC. We didn’t think that the situation was going to improve, and we put an end to it.
“Messi could not have stayed at Barcelona even with Griezmann’s [departure] and with the salary reduction of the captains. But it is important that we have lowered the salary cap because next year we can be more ambitious.”
