Leo Messi will go down the middle path once he becomes a free agent after his contract with PSG expires on June 30: he will bet on the family option of Inter Miami rather than money from Saudi Arabia or the love of Barcelona's colors. Although the desire of the 10 was to return to Barça, the critical economic situation of the Barça club prevents articulating a contract respectful of the demands of the League, the same problem that already caused his departure in 2021.
The timing of the player did not coincide with that of the entity: Messi wanted an immediate response and Barcelona asked for time to adapt its wage bill and comply with the viability plan signed with the League. Both the player and the institution practically give up after the player had already communicated to Barcelona that he would not return despite the interest of president Joan Laporta and especially coach Xavi Hernández.
In the last hours, the Barcelona dressing room was agitated. "What about Leo?" asked one in the Barça expedition in Japan, where the team played a friendly against Iniesta's Vissel Kobe (0-2). There were others who were watching Twitch. There were also the most classic if you want who eagerly followed the information on Twitter. The expectation of the Barcelona players collapsed on Wednesday afternoon. According to sources from the Barça entity, Messi will not return to Barça and will surely continue his career in the United States, information disclosed by journalist Miguel Rico.
The captain of Argentina, in this way, ruled out the tempting offer of Arabia -400 million per season- to accept that of Inter that includes, according to The Athletic, a percentage of the income of the MLS pass, the package of transmission of the matches on television -the American league signed a contract with Apple for 10 seasons in exchange for 2,500 million dollars-, more profit share from Adidas that sponsors both MLS and the Argentine. In addition, always according to the American portal, the possibility of buying a team when he retires, as they had already agreed with David Beckham at the time. The American dream of the Argentine begins. A dream that precipitated for Messi. His desire was to continue his career in Europe.
Before the World Cup in Qatar, the Rosario had reached an agreement in principle to extend his contract with PSG for one more season. However, in February, after the first meeting between Jorge Messi, agent and father of the player, and Luis Campos, sporting director of the Parisian team, everything cooled down. The executive of the French team could not answer Messi's question: "What is the sports project?" At that moment, Barcelona appeared and especially Xavi. Laporta, at that time, had only made a small approach to Jorge: a half-hour meeting in a hotel in which only a possible tribute was discussed, according to both parties. And nothing else. Messi had been hopeful, according to those who know him, with his return to Barcelona. It turns out that in the Barça entity the only one excited about the return of the 10 was Laporta.
"First we have to register all the players that we need to register," they reasoned, at the time, in the sports area. Other sources of the sports direction, even more skeptical with the return of Messi, sentenced: "How can you start talking about a signing like Leo, with all the movements that implies, both fair-play and departure of players in April? That should have started much earlier." Time passed and Messi still did not receive a proposal from the club. Then, in mid-May, the Rosario began to move away emotionally from Barcelona. "If they could not register him in 2021, when with LaLiga there were supposedly no problems, how are they going to do it now that there is an open dispute?" asked a veteran of the Barcelona dressing room.
The media pressure of Xavi, added to the concern of the dressing room for the number of exits that had to be produced to open the door, distanced Messi from Barcelona. "We are waiting for Xavi to talk to us to see if we have to look for life. But he didn't," says one of the players set to leave Barça in the next market. "Leo is emotionally bad and tired," said Jorge Messi, in his last public appearance. The player's father had tried one last approach with Laporta. It didn't work. According to Barcelona sources, the club had presented an offer to the player. A maxim that does not coincide with the version of the player's environment: "It was not a formal proposal". The meeting between the president and the player's agent barely lasted half an hour. There was no turning back. Messi's future was definitely moving away from the Camp Nou.
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