Messi hands in transfer request

[Super]

Safe to say things are getting Messi.

[Ronnie Sinclair]

So he's staying after all then - what a pantomime

Lionel Messi: Barcelona legend to stay at club

 

Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer Lionel Messi says he is staying because it is "impossible" for any team to pay his release clause and he does not want to face "the club I love" in court.

The Argentine, 33, sent a fax to Barca last Tuesday saying he wanted to exercise a clause in his contract which he said allowed him to leave for free.

But the club said his 700m euro (£624m) release clause would have to be met.

"I thought and was sure that I was free to leave," Messi told Goal.

"The president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not.

"Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the 700m clause, and that this is impossible."

Messi, whose contract expires next summer, says the fact he did not tell Barca he wanted to leave before 10 June was crucial, and had he done so his release clause would not have had to be met.

"Now they cling to the fact that I did not say it before 10 June, when it turns out that on 10 June we were competing for La Liga in the middle of this awful coronavirus and this disease altered all the season," he added.

"There was another way and it was to go to trial. I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived.

"It is the club of my life, I have made my life here."

Messi's father Jorge had held talks in Barcelona this week and insisted his son could leave for free, only for La Liga to back Barca's stance over the release clause.

Manchester City were among the clubs linked with Messi when he made clear he wanted to end his 20-year stay at the Nou Camp, nine days after an 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

That result meant Barca ended the season with no silverware, and they replaced manager Quique Setien with former Everton and Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman.

Messi is yet to train with his team-mates since Koeman's arrival and admits the club's lack of recent success influenced his decision to ask to leave.

"I looked further afield and I want to compete at the highest level, win titles, compete in the Champions League," he said.

"When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama.

"The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools.

"I love Barcelona and I'm not going to find a better place than here anywhere. Still, I have the right to decide.

"I was going to look for new goals and new challenges. And tomorrow I could go back, because here in Barcelona I have everything."

'This could get uglier' - analysis

Spanish football writer Andy West

So Messi is staying, but this saga is far from over.

One notable takeaway from his interview was his brutal assessment of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, as he lamented: "There has been no project or anything for a long time, they juggle and cover holes as they go along."

Bartomeu's tenure as president finishes in March but he will now come under heavy pressure to resign immediately, and it's hard to see how he and Messi can coexist in the same club after such a vicious character assassination.

Of course, the big question also lingers: will Messi now leave on a free transfer next summer? If so, he will be allowed to negotiate his move in January, and that topic is sure to dominate headlines over the next few weeks.

One man in the middle of this is recently appointed coach Ronald Koeman, who has the task of somehow reintegrating the team's captain and key player within an utterly dysfunctional club still traumatised by the embarrassing 8-2 Champions League loss against Bayern Munich.

All the best, Ronald. This sorry story has a few more chapters to be written, and it could get uglier yet.

[Taz]

He was never going anywhere.

Nobody was going to pay that rediculous fee, and wouldn't be surprised if he signed a new contract within the next few weeks/months, with a few extra euro in his pocket.

Big pantomime performance to get a payrise.

[Major Isewater]

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

He was always going to stay at least for another year as isn't he due a €63m loyalty bonus next year. He may stay longer yet if he gets the President he wants and Xavi takes over as manager. 

[BanburyRed]

Was never going to leave, I'm sure he's instigated a payrise too. Comfortable in his safe Barcelona bubble.  At least Ronaldo has tried different leagues to test himself.

[Portland Bill]

6 minutes ago, BanburyRed said:

Was never going to leave, I'm sure he's instigated a payrise too. Comfortable in his safe Barcelona bubble.  At least Ronaldo has tried different leagues to test himself.

The difference is, Ronaldo craves the limelight, Messi has been content with being the best player on the planet!.

[Portland Bill]

2 hours ago, Taz said:

He was never going anywhere.

Nobody was going to pay that rediculous fee, and wouldn't be surprised if he signed a new contract within the next few weeks/months, with a few extra euro in his pocket.

Big pantomime performance to get a payrise.

Really! So he said this, but you know better! 

“Every year I could have left and earned more money than at Barcelona. I always said that this was my home and it was what I felt and feel," he said. "To decide there was somewhere better than here was difficult. I felt that I needed a change and new goals, new things".

[cidercity1987]

Boring. He threatened to quit playing for Argentina on many occasions. A massively flawed character

[Mr Popodopolous]

Agreed- one of the clear top two of his era- but there's something about him I cannot quite warm to...

He seems to have too much sway at their club for one.

[KeepUpLino]

46 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

47 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

The difference is, Ronaldo craves the limelight, Messi has been content with being the best player on the planet!.

Not a patch on Ronaldo

[joe jordans teeth]

1 hour ago, Portland Bill said:

The difference is, Ronaldo craves the limelight, Messi has been content with being the best player on the planet!.

Ronaldo is European and always wanted to speak different languages and prove himself in different countries and be out his comfort zone which he has done tbf,Messi is quite happy being the big shot in the Barca bubble,who’s better is up for debate but hunger has to go to Ronaldo 

[joe jordans teeth]

58 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Boring. He threatened to quit playing for Argentina on many occasions. A massively flawed character

Almost child like,if I don’t get my way I’m taking my ball with me

[Mr Popodopolous]

2 minutes ago, joe jordans teeth said:

Almost child like,if I don’t get my way I’m taking my ball with me

Basically yeah- with Barcelona he seems to have a sway over signings, seems bigger than the club almost at times. Seems to have had hefty sway with Argentina too!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/02/messis-influence-troubling-finances-and-boardroom-turmoil-why-barcelona-are-a-mess

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/lionel-messi-influence-argentina-168409

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/barcelona/story/4037227/at-barcelona-its-lionel-messipique-and-the-players-who-hold-the-powernot-the-manager

[hantsred]

"When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama.

"The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools."

 

I assume that's after he mentioned Manchester to them

[Matty Taylors a Red]

Reading some cynical comments on this thread. Seems to me like Messi genuinely wanted to join Pep at Man City. Also sounds as if he would have won had he taken Barcelona to court. Hard to blame him for being reluctant to take it that far. 
 

Many mentioning that he’s bottled leaving his comfort zone, or that it was an empty threat to get his own way. Don’t think any of that is true, and it certainly wasn’t about money either as it was reported he was willing to take a pay cut and would’ve lost out on a €70m loyalty bonus had he left.

[chinapig]

Excellent piece by the equally excellent Sid Lowe:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/sep/04/for-lionel-messi-and-barcelona-things-will-never-be-the-same-again

[downendcity]

1 hour ago, chinapig said:

Excellent piece by the equally excellent Sid Lowe:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/sep/04/for-lionel-messi-and-barcelona-things-will-never-be-the-same-again

It’s often said that no player is bigger than the club.

In this case, it feels the opposite is true ( I mean that in the best sense of the word, as far as the way that Messi has acted) 

[Portland Bill]

9 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Agreed- one of the clear top two of his era- but there's something about him I cannot quite warm to...

He seems to have too much sway at their club for one.

I would say the complete opposite, for such a genius with a football he seems very down to earth.

He carried Barca to 2nd this season, if it wasn’t for him they were a mid table side. I watched every game last season and they are a shadow of the side of 5 years ago, Why should he be content with that, he could play for any team in the world.

I went and watched the game v Sociedad in March, the crowd for demonstrating against the current president every 15 minutes of the game, they can see it, they understand where Messi is coming from.

If you had an agreement with your boss and he reneged on it, would you just lie down and roll over, I certainly wouldn’t. It seems he would more than likely win any court case, but because of loyalty he won’t go down that path, plenty of other footballers would I’m sure, simply because for them it’s all about money. This footballer doesn’t need money, morals seem more important to him.
He has dominated the best league in Europe ( 12 European titles out of the last 20) for the last 10 years plus, it’s strange how some just don’t ‘want’to see how good he is.

 

 

[JamesBCFC]

1 hour ago, Portland Bill said:

I would say the complete opposite, for such a genius with a football he seems very down to earth.

He carried Barca to 2nd this season, if it wasn’t for him they were a mid table side. I watched every game last season and they are a shadow of the side of 5 years ago, Why should he be content with that, he could play for any team in the world.

I went and watched the game v Sociedad in March, the crowd for demonstrating against the current president every 15 minutes of the game, they can see it, they understand where Messi is coming from.

If you had an agreement with your boss and he reneged on it, would you just lie down and roll over, I certainly wouldn’t. It seems he would more than likely win any court case, but because of loyalty he won’t go down that path, plenty of other footballers would I’m sure, simply because for them it’s all about money. This footballer doesn’t need money, morals seem more important to him.
He has dominated the best league in Europe ( 12 European titles out of the last 20) for the last 10 years plus, it’s strange how some just don’t ‘want’to see how good he is.

 

 

Wasn't Messi done for tax fraud?

But I'm sure it wasn't about the money.

[Portland Bill]

6 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Wasn't Messi done for tax fraud?

But I'm sure it wasn't about the money.

Do you think he controls what happens to his money ?

[JamesBCFC]

7 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

Do you think he controls what happens to his money ?

Ah, you're right. It is clearly the fault of Harry Redknapp's dog.

Him and his father were both found guilty of using tax havens to conceal earnings from image rights.

 

Even if you come back saying it was accountants or whatever acting on his behalf, it is still under his instruction, so yes it is under his control.

[AshtonGreat]

17 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Basically yeah- with Barcelona he seems to have a sway over signings, seems bigger than the club almost at times. Seems to have had hefty sway with Argentina too!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/02/messis-influence-troubling-finances-and-boardroom-turmoil-why-barcelona-are-a-mess

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/lionel-messi-influence-argentina-168409

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/barcelona/story/4037227/at-barcelona-its-lionel-messipique-and-the-players-who-hold-the-powernot-the-manager

He seems to have a sway over signings? Then why is he complaining about Barcelona's transfer policy? Also, if he was bigger than the club, he would've got his way to leave

[Portland Bill]

49 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

Ah, you're right. It is clearly the fault of Harry Redknapp's dog.

Him and his father were both found guilty of using tax havens to conceal earnings from image rights.

 

Even if you come back saying it was accountants or whatever acting on his behalf, it is still under his instruction, so yes it is under his control.

That’s fine, I agree with you, he is a really really evil man, and despite all of his charity work, he should be shot at dawn.

[JamesBCFC]

3 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

That’s fine, I agree with you, he is a really really evil man, and despite all of his charity work, he should be shot at dawn.

I havent said anything even remotely like that.

I just cannot believe any claim that Messi's posturing (this has happened before) is not money related at all when he has been proven guilty of tax evasion in trying to hide his money earned.

 

Amazingly there IS a middle ground between "he is evil" and "this is not money related". 

[Portland Bill]

1 hour ago, JamesBCFC said:

I havent said anything even remotely like that.

I just cannot believe any claim that Messi's posturing (this has happened before) is not money related at all when he has been proven guilty of tax evasion in trying to hide his money earned.

 

Amazingly there IS a middle ground between "he is evil" and "this is not money related". 

You don’t want accountants mentioned. So you are seriously saying that every penny earned by Messi ( Ronaldo and Neymar also went through the same thing) is accounted by him.

The amount of money these stars earn through advertising and other exploits must be mind blowing.

They are hardly going to have a banking app on their phones  where they checks their account.

Accountants and advisors are going to be doing all the deals,( including all the tax details) if they don’t, then I would be 100% flabbergasted!

[JamesBCFC]

10 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

You don’t want accountants mentioned. So you are seriously saying that every penny earned by Messi ( Ronaldo and Neymar also went through the same thing) is accounted by him.

The amount of money these stars earn through advertising and other exploits must be mind blowing.

They are hardly going to have a banking app on their phones  where they checks their account.

Accountants and advisors are going to be doing all the deals,( including all the tax details) if they don’t, then I would be 100% flabbergasted!

Once again, that is not what I have said, manipulating my words like that is dishonest and prevents any genuine discussion. 

 

Any accountants will be instructed in some manner when he contacts them in the first place. And before you jump to that conclusion, that doesn't mean he explicitly told them to use the tax havens of Belize and Uruguay.

You haven't once tried to handle this discussion about his tax evasion in a remotely sensible way, so I won't hold my breath on that changing.

I'm not demonising Messi, so if you'd like to take a minute to stop kissing his boots and read what I actually put you might see the only point I made in the first place was doubt about the fact it wasn't about the money, when his previous actions show money to be a fairly big factor for him.

Nor is Neymar and C. Ronaldo's tax evasion relevant, I am not praising either of their actions in comparison to Messi and they are all as bad as each other for committing tax evasion. But as neither of them were involved in Messi doing it they have absolutely no relevance here. 

[joe jordans teeth]

3 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Ah, you're right. It is clearly the fault of Harry Redknapp's dog.

Him and his father were both found guilty of using tax havens to conceal earnings from image rights.

 

Even if you come back saying it was accountants or whatever acting on his behalf, it is still under his instruction, so yes it is under his control.

Spot on,unless Messi and his father are thick as dog shit which they clearly are not then they agreed to it 

[Portland Bill]

2 hours ago, JamesBCFC said:

Once again, that is not what I have said, manipulating my words like that is dishonest and prevents any genuine discussion. 

 

Any accountants will be instructed in some manner when he contacts them in the first place. And before you jump to that conclusion, that doesn't mean he explicitly told them to use the tax havens of Belize and Uruguay.

You haven't once tried to handle this discussion about his tax evasion in a remotely sensible way, so I won't hold my breath on that changing.

I'm not demonising Messi, so if you'd like to take a minute to stop kissing his boots and read what I actually put you might see the only point I made in the first place was doubt about the fact it wasn't about the money, when his previous actions show money to be a fairly big factor for him.

Nor is Neymar and C. Ronaldo's tax evasion relevant, I am not praising either of their actions in comparison to Messi and they are all as bad as each other for committing tax evasion. But as neither of them were involved in Messi doing it they have absolutely no relevance here. 

If you can’t reply without patronising and talking down to me, don’t bother. 

 

[JamesBCFC]

7 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

If you can’t reply without patronising and talking down to me, don’t bother. 

 

Your own responses to me from the start warranted the tone I have used back.

If you don't like that I have had to talk down to you then don't claim I have made assertions that I haven't done or leap to ridiculous nonsense like suggesting I thought of Messi as evil when that wasn't even implied in the vaguest sense.

 

So let's try again.

Why is Messi so clearly not about money when he has previously been convicted of tax evasion and also got history of posturing in a similar manner to this most recent occasion to get a better contract?