Goodbyes are always hard, but this particular goodbye seems to be hitting football fans especially deep.
The news of footballer Lionel Messi, officially leaving the Barcelona football club has left thousands of football fans heartbroken. Messi, a six-time Ballon d’Or winner had spent his entire career as a member of the FC Barcelona and so the fact that he is leaving the club and his iconic Jersey No. 10 behind is something many fans are having difficulty coming to terms with.
The reason for this is being said that the club and Messi were not able to reach an agreement for his new contract with FC Barcelona. As per the official statement, “Although an agreement has been reached between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi it cannot be formalised due to economic and structural obstacles.”
Messi Leaving Barcelona
The fact that Lionel Messi, the Argentine forward, is leaving Barcelona (Barca) is a hard pill for many to swallow. One of the biggest reasons being that the footballer has spent practically his entire professional career at this club only.
He joined Barca at the age of 13 when he became a member of their youth set-up team. Since then he has made 672 goals across 778 games in various competitions, also taking over the title of being the club’s all-time top scorer.
Over his 20 year time at Barcelona, he helped the club win 10 league titles, four Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups. As a sportsperson himself Messi has amassed an impressive 35 trophies.
Messi’s deal with FC Barcelona had already ended around the end of June, but the club wanted to retain the player post that too. Reports rumoured that Messi would be signing a new contract for five years that would also have a 50% salary reduction.
This was due to the 2013 La Liga Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations that put a cap on how much money each club can spend on its teach, coach, and other staff per season. The amount would be decided based on the income of each club and how much money they are bringing in.
Barca on its side is saying that these regulations acted as a hindrance in them retaining Messi into the team.
According to the statement released by Barcelona, “Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish La Liga regulations).
As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.
FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.”
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Desis React To This
Twitter right now is a place of gloom and doom with fans of Messi just a whole mess with grief. Many are going full-on in their sadness, unable to think of a future where Messi will not put on the iconic colours and his 10 number jersey.
While there are also those who are using memes to get over this difficult time and thinking how many other clubs are going to pounce on this golden opportunity to recruit Messi into their teams.
https://twitter.com/cricloverPrayas/status/1423481857560104965
https://twitter.com/LSComps/status/1423342286335840266
As of now, Messi is without any club, but news is circulating that there are two possible clubs he could be joining. One of them being the French club Paris St Germain (PSG) and the other being Manchester City, which coincidentally also has his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: NDTV, Reuters, The New York Times
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This post is tagged under: Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona, Lionel Messi Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Barcelona, Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona club, Lionel Messi football, messi barcelona jersey, messi leaving barca, messi transfer, messi transfer news, lionel messi fc barcelona
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