Messi-Barça, the underside of a divorce

The formalization arrived a little before 8 p.m. this Thursday evening.

FC Barcelona have issued a press release announcing the departure of Lionel Messi after 21 years of presence in Catalonia.

"Despite an agreement reached and with the intention of signing a new contract, economic and structural obstacles" made this extension impossible, the statement said.

"Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the club and the player cannot come true", adds the text.

An officialization which confirms the bomb dropped a little earlier in the day by the daily Marca.

An incredible turnaround as this Thursday morning again, all the local press announced that Messi's new contract with Barça would be official "in the next few hours".

What are the latest twists?

At 6 p.m. this Thursday, the Marca newspaper informed that the Argentine prodigy was "further than ever" from an extension at Barça.

According to the Spanish daily, President Joan Laporta and the club's captains, including Gerard Piqué, were aware of the situation.

“The negotiations that seemed to be resolved have come to a point of no return,” Marca wrote.

Behind, the Catalan radio Rac1 engaged on the same echoes, just like the other dailies AS, Sport or Mundo Deportivo.

The latter, very close to the Blaugrana club, however ensured that the club remained "confident".

Barça's press release, around 8 p.m., ended the suspense.

What happened ?

Several reasons are given.

The first would revolve around the end of negotiations between the Messi clan, represented by his father Jorge, and the Catalan club.

In his latest requests, the six-fold Golden Ball, for example, “demanded” the recruitment of his compatriot Cristian Romero in central defense (he should sign for Tottenham), explains Marca.

According to Mundo Deportivo and Rac 1, Messi no longer believes in the club's sporting project, nor in his financial situation.

This is another point, arguably even more crucial: today, Barça would not even be allowed by La Liga, the mother body of Spanish professional football, to officially register Messi, even if he extended.

The reason ?

The club's payroll, still above the 160 million euros imposed by La Liga (against 347 million € last season).

A solution appeared to present itself through a financial deal between La Liga and an investment fund (see below).

But Barça, like Real, denounces this agreement and the "war" against La Liga, already accentuated by the desires of the Super League, is at its peak.

What is this financial deal?

On Wednesday, La Liga announced that it had sold 10% of its capital to a Luxembourg investment fund, CVC Partners, for 2.7 billion euros.

This agreement in principle must then be passed on to the 42 professional clubs in order to ensure their "economic viability", according to La Liga.

Problem: Real Madrid oppose an agreement decided "without his opinion" and contest the conditions via a press release on Thursday.

For their part, Barça reacts in the same way but in private.

But, according to several corroborating sources, La Liga does not understand the position of the Catalan club, in great financial danger (Barça would have recovered more than 200 million euros with this agreement).

And she would have let Barca leaders know that without his support Messi's registration would be impossible.

And the PSG, then?

Lionel Messi will therefore not extend to Barça. But where can he go? A question that has animated world football for six months. Free of any contract, the 34-year-old Argentinian interests many clubs, including Manchester City and PSG. But after the latest announcements, nothing is moving for the time being in Paris. The capital club remain calm about this and no longer consider the arrival of Messi as an option. Other files are priority for the time being, starting with the extension of Kylian Mbappé. However, the transfer window is still very long and, as long as Messi has not signed up elsewhere, the rumors will continue. Especially since Tuesday evening again, the Argentinian was spending an evening of vacation with Neymar, Di Maria, Paredes and Verratti.