What does the future have in store for Lionel Messi?
Yes, it's true. Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona. This time, it is for real, and there is no powerplay involved.
It isn't for a better contract or to get Bartomeu out. Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona, a news that could change the landscape of European football for ever, much like the transfer of Neymar to Paris St. Germain did three years ago.
Lionel Messi no longer wants to be a part of Barcelona's rebuild under new manager Ronald Koeman and does not want to carry the team to more humiliation in the Champions League.
The footballing world went into overdrive and potential suitors were sent rushing to open their chequebooks after the sensational news was first broken by Marca that Lionel Messi has asked the Barcelona board to terminate his contract.
As expected, social media teams of football clubs rushed to quickly photoshop a photo of Lionel Messi wearing their kit and made announcements that he may join them. That is all great for social media engagement numbers. But in reality, only a precious few clubs can even afford to sign Lionel Messi in the current transfer market. Perhaps the question people should be asking is: would any club sign him even if they could?
The reason for the same is not because Lionel Messi's footballing ability is on the decline. He is arguably the best player in the world, and probably has three more years of elite-level football left in him. But his enormous impact on the pitch comes with a gargantuan effect on a club's finances. Barcelona have probably crumbled financially under the weight of Lionel Messi's massive wages over the past few years.
Messi earns about €50 million net per year from Barcelona, which comfortably makes him the highest-paid football player on the planet. Accounting for basic wages, bonuses, loyalty and image rights, that amount swells to around €100 million per year before taxes. Only a handful of clubs in the world today would be able to pay that amount to one player in their team.
Moreover, Lionel Messi has a €700 million release clause in his contract, an amount no club could realistically expect to pay.
A club could cough up a bid of €100 million to allow Barcelona to let Messi go or the player could convince Barcelona to adhere to the clause in his contract and unilaterally terminate his contract before it expires in 2021.
Assuming the latter happens, a club would still have to pay a significant amount for Lionel Messi's transfer fee and then pay the player close to €100 million per year for the duration of his contract.
Even if Lionel Messi takes a wage cut, which he could likely do, a club would have to dish out a significant amount of money for a player who may have little resale value at the end of his contract. And all this is compounded by the fact that COVID-19 has shrunk the revenues of football clubs, and cash is now tighter than ever.
Does Lionel Messi have any realistic suitors?
There are probably only three realistic suitors for Lionel Messi: Manchester City, Paris St. Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan.
Manchester City and PSG are backed by states, and they have the financial might to broker a deal for Lionel Messi. The two clubs will also be aided by the fact that Financial Fair Play (FFP) has been suspended for a year by UEFA, although that has not stopped either of them in the past.
The third destination for Lionel Messi could be Italian club Inter Milan. With new owners at the club and arguably lenient tax laws in the country, Inter could be an attractive option for the Argentinian.
However, even if three of the richest clubs in the world could move heaven and earth to sign a player like Lionel Messi, it remains to be seen if it would be worth it for any of them. Contrary to popular belief, football clubs don’t earn any major revenue from jersey sales. While Messi would, no doubt. add to the brand appeal and marketing side of things, would any club be comfortable with the overall package?
Moreover, any major club would be dissuaded from signing Lionel Messi because the successful modern-day super club tend to comprise of a team of players working in tandem instead of relying on a superstar who could produce magic.
Both Barcelona and Juventus are crippled by their respective huge outlays on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, which probably hinders their abilities to bring in enough quality reinforcements to have an all-beating team.
Liverpool and Bayern Munich are the two best examples of successful super teams who do not have one superstar. Both teams implement the high press, win the ball up high and carry no passengers in defence.
For other teams who wish to emulate the success of these clubs, would they choose to adapt to Lionel Messi to try and get the best out of him, or would the Argentinian adapt his style of play to suit his new team's?
Regardless of whatever may happen in the future, Lionel Messi's transfer saga is going to linger on for a while. It might even include a long drawn-out legal battle between the club and the player and Barcelona ending up alienating the very player who helped them reach the pinnacle of football. But that is what modern football has come to.
It's no longer the utopian world we envisage it to be, with loyalty being nothing more than a smokescreen. And as the last true one-club man is all set to leave for greener pastures, it's a dark reminder that when you strip everything away, football is nothing more than a cold profit-making business.