Messi

[Itsallaguess]

One of the all time greats, and such sad news that we won't see him play at such a superb ground in a Barcelona shirt ever again...

https://www.nairaland.com/attachments/9344051_img20190508wa0011_jpeg3d4d53e59cc49edc6929351e5239de9f

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[pje16]

I have heard him quoted as saying that did all he could to stay at Barcelona
The reason given for his departure is that the club cannot afford his wages
Can anyone see what the easy solution might be?

[Laughton]

That's right - blame it on the workers

[Leothebear]

I have heard him quoted as saying that did all he could to stay at Barcelona
The reason given for his departure is that the club cannot afford his wages
Can anyone see what the easy solution might be?

Oh come on! You saw his tears! Weren't you moved by his heartache?

No? Nor was I.

I think once you start being paid more that £1m per annum the first thing you lose is any sense of perspective.

[Gerry557]

It wasn't a paltry million though, more like £60m. He did agree a pay cut but they could not off load some of the " bad" players to allow him to stay.

Talk of PSG or the two Manchester clubs but it's still a lot of money even on a free

Hopefully it's the start of some sort of backlash and he prices himself out of the game. I'd be happy to see a few more getting the same sort of treatment or Messi starting for Accrington Stanley next weekend

[pje16]

If he had truly wanted to stay a deal could have been done
How much money does he NEED?

[Itsallaguess]

If he had truly wanted to stay a deal could have been done

How much money does he NEED?

Just to be clear - under the current situation at Barcelona, the club are not able to register ANY new player with their league until they have satisfied the La Liga rules regarding salary limits, which Barcelona are currently breaking...

As Messi is currently a free agent, that means that even if he'd agreed to play for Barcelona for nothing, the club would still have an existing salary structure that currently pays out around 90% of their income, and the La Liga limit is 70%...

For FC Barcelona, the chickens have come home to roost, and the price for much of their historical success finally needs paying, and whilst the spotlight is of course currently on this momentous of days where they're losing their talisman, the true pay-back that needs to fix the structural issues at the club has really only just begun...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[AsleepInYorkshire]

If my boss told me I was working for a company that didn't make a profit I'd be the first to look elsewhere. If my boss told me the firm was making windfall profits but couldn't afford to review my income I'd look elsewhere.

Why would I look at the amount of money I have which I have earned legally and paid taxes on and work for nothing because I can afford to? I wouldn't.

I have a worth in the market place and it's up to me to maximise that.

Messi has been an incredible asset for his team. There aren't many players who have his natural talent which when added to his discipline make him worth a serious income. Bums on seats.

AiY

[BobbyD]

One of the all time greats, and such sad news that we won't see him play at such a superb ground in a Barcelona shirt ever again...

https://www.nairaland.com/attachments/9344051_img20190508wa0011_jpeg3d4d53e59cc49edc6929351e5239de9f

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

I was there. He looks a lot better on the telly! Mind you so do Mbappe and Neymar.

Barca are redefining 'trouble', as it stands their squad already took a significant pay decrease last year, they've signed Kun and Depay, but can't register them, and for every euro they save off the wage bill they are allowed to reinvest 25 cents. Oh, and if you think Messi is upset apparently Aguero isn't too happy, and he's injured...

Mismanagement on an epic scale even Ed Woodward couldn't better, and De Gea's £375,000 a week contract still has 2 years to run!

[Itsallaguess]

Barca are redefining 'trouble', as it stands their squad already took a significant pay decrease last year, they've signed Kun and Depay, but can't register them, and for every euro they save off the wage bill they are allowed to reinvest 25 cents. Oh, and if you think Messi is upset apparently Aguero isn't too happy, and he's injured...

Mismanagement on an epic scale even Ed Woodward couldn't better, and De Gea's £375,000 a week contract still has 2 years to run!

Well as a Liverpool fan, Messi's impending move to PSG and back into an alliance with Neymar has a ring of circularity to it that echoes so sweetly into Liverpool's fantastic recent achievements, and is perhaps the end of a long-running tale that goes some way to explain many of the issues at the heart of Barcelona too...

As you'll know, it was Neymar's initial shock move to PSG from Barcelona in 2017 that forced the top Spanish club into a transfer market devoid of suitable replacements, and they eventually settled on prising Coutinho from Liverpool in an attempt to plug the huge Neymar-shaped hole in their squad, paying around 160 million Euros at the time for the want-away Liverpool player, with initial fees and follow-ons, and a rumoured weekly wage of around £250,000....

It was a drawn out and acrimonious split for Coutinho, but Liverpool went on to use that Barcelona money to break the world transfer records at that time for both a goalkeeper, in Alisson Becker, and again for a defender - Virgil van Dijk, and those two Countinho-funded signings absolutely transformed Liverpool from being a wanna-be challenger and into a world class team, with Liverpool winning the Champions League just one season after Barcelona bought Coutinho, and then also going on to win their first ever Premier League title just a season later....

After such an expensive signing for Barcelona, Countinho only actually made around 90 appearances for the Spanish club, often as a substitute, before being loaned out to Bayern Munich - he simply failed to deliver for a club who were so desperate to have him at such a huge cost, and one that he was so desperate to join...

So it's all a little bitter-sweet for me, when I see Barcelona struggling like this - they've over-extended themselves for many years, but if they hadn't in recent years, then the club I support would likely not have had much of the recent success that it has, and certainly wouldn't have such a brilliant defensive backbone, funded as it was by Barcelona's glorious final years of excess....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[pje16]

and De Gea's £375,000 a week contract still has 2 years to run!

nearly choked on my cornflakes....
HOW much, he must have a fantastic agent, he's not even the best goalie in Manchester

[dealtn]

I have heard him quoted as saying that did all he could to stay at Barcelona
The reason given for his departure is that the club cannot afford his wages
Can anyone see what the easy solution might be?

No, please explain it.

What I see is someone who doesn't understand the finance rules in football (but probably thinks he does), and is making assumptions.

[pje16]

I have heard him quoted as saying that did all he could to stay at Barcelona
The reason given for his departure is that the club cannot afford his wages
Can anyone see what the easy solution might be?

No, please explain it.

What I see is someone who doesn't understand the finance rules in football (but probably thinks he does), and is making assumptions.

OK I'll state the obvious - Take a pay cut !
and not just him - the while squad
The club is bankrupt
I do understand finance by the way

[dealtn]

I have heard him quoted as saying that did all he could to stay at Barcelona
The reason given for his departure is that the club cannot afford his wages
Can anyone see what the easy solution might be?

No, please explain it.

What I see is someone who doesn't understand the finance rules in football (but probably thinks he does), and is making assumptions.

OK I'll state the obvious - Take a pay cut !
and not just him - the while squad
The club is bankrupt
I do understand finance by the way

So the "easy solution" is to pay somebody less than his current value? How easy do you think that is in practice then?

Then you have the difficult problem that even if he was paid zero, the Club still wouldn't be able to register its squad. What's your "easy solution" looking like now?

You may claim to understand finance, but I was referring to the rules of football finance.

[pje16]

You are so sarcastic - there is no need for that
I have read this and understand it
https://www.ft.com/content/c2c8565a-e28 ... 30b0c81bce
Finance , football or otherwise, is not hard to grasp
If you spend more than your income you will in trouble

[dealtn]

You are so sarcastic - there is no need for that
I have read this and understand it
https://www.ft.com/content/c2c8565a-e28 ... 30b0c81bce
Finance , football or otherwise, is not hard to grasp
If you spend more than your income you will in trouble

No sarcasm intended.

I haven't read it, it's the wrong side of a paywall and I have no interest in going there.

Football finance is hard to grasp. I am a Director of a club in the Football League. I have to explain it to other Directors, none of whom are unintelligent.

[pje16]

re paywall
how odd I could read the lot earlier, I can't now
I have worked in finance for 40 years, so I have a better undertstanding than most
Finance can be spun in many ways, and that maybe a lot of the problem in football
You would not run any other business like a football club is run
I'm sure you've heard the old chestnut
"There is only one way to make a small fortune from owning a football club – and that’s to start off with a large fortune"

[BobbyD]

It was a drawn out and acrimonious split for Coutinho, but Liverpool went on to use that Barcelona money to break the world transfer records at that time for both a goalkeeper, in Alisson Becker, and again for a defender - Virgil van Dijk, and those two Countinho-funded signings absolutely transformed Liverpool from being a wanna-be challenger and into a world class team, with Liverpool winning the Champions League just one season after Barcelona bought Coutinho, and then also going on to win their first ever Premier League title just a season later....

Causality is difficult with football, but Liverpool had already apologised for making an illegal approach for Virgil (played 72 minutes yesterday), 6 months before Coutinho left so what actually paid for Virgil is a little shrouded in supposition. Not that the cash didn't help but Michael Edwards is the ultimate box to box sporting director not only wringing Barca dry over Coutinho but getting the best part of a Sadio out of Villa for Benteke at the selling end of the pitch whilst inserting sell on clauses in to sale contracts pretty much as standard and securing Bobby, Sadio and Mo for a Pogba and change at the buying end.

Given the hit rate of the analysis department has been insanely high, and the owners have been quite prepared to back them I'm unconvinced the cash was necessary for The Virgil, or that the arguments against signing Ali would have stood much examining. It's also worth remembering that our first choice back five was far from the most expensive in the league, with Trent (free), Jo-Go (£3.5m), and Robo (£8 million) bringing the average cost of the defensive unit down to a 'mere' £30 million or six tenths of a Benjamin Mendy a piece...

and De Gea's £375,000 a week contract still has 2 years to run!

nearly choked on my cornflakes....
HOW much, he must have a fantastic agent, he's not even the best goalie in Manchester

De Gea is the new Wazza. A player well past his best United would love to move on but can't afford to because he is on an absolutely ridiculous contract. As a Liverpool fan I'm going to miss Ed Woodward.

[Stan]

I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with Messi or Barcelona.

How the hell can a club with attendances like Barcelona get land themselves in debt.

Lousy financial control I expect.

[pje16]

More like NO financial control