Messi really wants to go home, but does Barca deserve it?

Unknowingly, Messi's contract with Paris has reached its last month. His future has become the answer that countless fans are eager to know.

First to stay in Europe and want to return to Barca, Messi's attitude is clear. However, Barca has not made an official offer, does Laporta really want Messi to go home? How hard is a real contract?

01. Barça have not made an official offer: the pot was dumped to La Liga early

a. Misconception 1: La Liga only approves registration, regardless of the offer

Many people have a deep misunderstanding of the function of La Liga. First of all, La Liga is not a very binding sector, and the scope of their powers cannot fundamentally determine something.

The simplest reason, even if La Liga refuses to register Garvey with the Barca first team, in fact Garvey still has the right to play for the Barca first team, and his new contract is valid (regardless of whether La Liga recognizes the new salary, Barca can pay according to the amount after the increase, which is nothing more than the name of the salary or other receivables when it is credited).

Also free, Inigo Martinez negotiated early with Barca and has signed a contract until June 2025, with an annual salary of about 7-9 million euros.

Romano used "Here we go"! This transfer, just wait for La Liga endorsement, can complete the registration.

In other words, La Liga has the right to evaluate only after the contract is signed, and La Liga does not have any restricted rights for offers that have not yet been agreed.

The same thing happened to Gundogan. Whatever the decision after La Liga, Barca have the possibility of getting a player only if they first give him a formal offer.

With an annual salary of 12 million euros before tax and a three-year validity, only when such an offer is actually presented to Gundogan will Barca be able to compete with Arsenal and Manchester City for the former German international.

b. Misconception 2: La Liga is not responsible for the budget

We can even see the process of Barça bringing in Christensen and Kessie in the last summer window. Again, the contract is signed first and then submitted to La Liga for review.

Whether a player can complete the registration for the new season is the right of the "heinous" Tebas, but first there must be a clear contract, giving the length and annual salary, La Liga can assess whether it is within the permissible range.

Laporta may not really be able to use La Liga's disagreement to register Messi as an excuse for delaying the delivery of an offer to Messi. This move is somewhat similar to two years ago, after June 30, Barca used Messi as a reason for signing a failed signing on the grounds that Messi was not renewing his contract but signing a new contract.

But you know, 2 years ago Barca had at least one clear offer, and Messi even signed it. Two years later, Barça didn't even have a formal offer.

Did Messi really agree to Barca's annual salary of 20-25 million euros before tax? At least we haven't received any affirmation or confirmation in this regard from sources other than the Catalan media.

And if Messi counteroffers €30 million? Is La Liga required to issue a statement: only Laporta is allowed to sign a contract with Messi under the amount of 20 million + 1 euro?

There was even a talk that Barça held talks with the Miami international and Saudi sides, and asked Messi to sign with the latter and then sublease Barça (which has been explicitly rejected by Miami international officials).

First of all, the practice of subletting, unless Messi's new owner sponsors Barca to bear part of Messi's annual salary for free, subleasing Barça with full annual salary and signing a direct contract with Barca is no difference to La Liga.

If a third party bears a part, then this is a means of accounting? Or a series of extremely complex transactions?

02. Arriving late? Will Laporta formally apologize to Messi?

a. From "Sleep Soundly" to "Live Tears"

If you go back 2 1/2 years, when Laporta and Fonte ran for Barça president. Laporta will only shout "Harvey Harvey Harvey" when attacking the opponent, and the other side responds that you only have "Messi Messi" in your mouth.

Interestingly, when Messi took his son to vote for Laporta, we found that it was not the Argentines he had been talking about staying with Laporta, but Wundt's "sharp heart".

At the same point two years ago, Laporta prepared for Messi's contract extension.

He even specially asked the photographer to pose for a shot of him hugging Messi's shirt, which made countless fans believe the famous saying, "When I think that Messi will renew his contract, I sleep soundly at night".

Two years later, when Messi was in Paris, Laporta once again showed his superior PR skills. From the Ballon d'Or ceremony to after Messi won the World Cup, Laporta cried live because he was "happy" for Messi.

b. Wait for a formal apology: if there is a return, there will be

Two years ago, because of the "heinous" Tebas, Messi was "unable to" renew his contract with Barca. Messi, who left with regrets, was once a stranger to Laporta.

However, two years later, in order to return to Barca, Messi's team reconnected with Laporta, after all, he is eager to return to his "hometown".

From Messi's autobiographer, to the Argentine media, there has been a recurring point of view: if Messi is to return to Barca, Laporta needs to have a formal apology.

Regarding this, I believe that there is no difficulty to complete. Once Messi returns, Laporta will be the perfect chairman without blemish. In order to accomplish this goal, I believe he will send the most gorgeous, touching, and at the same time the most sincere apology in the history of football.

Just 15 years ago, Messi knew who was the contemporary Pinocchio. In fact, no one really doesn't understand the truth. It's just that when we want to get to that point, we always have to give each other some "respect".

03. Are Barça rich? In the past two years, Barça has made a profit of 300 million euros?

Do you believe it or not? After Messi left, Barça plans to earn 300 million in 2 years

Regarding whether Messi can return to Barca, a thousand words and ten thousand, the basis of the starting point is whether Barca has money.

From Barca's official 2021-22 season financial report data (the first year of Messi's departure), it can be seen that the red and blue team received a net profit of 98 million euros, which is also the first time that Barca has turned a profit after two consecutive years of losses.

Comparing with the budget figures, Barça's revenue increased from an estimated 765 million to 1.02 billion because other income (leverage for selling assets) was 340 million more than expected.

The normal operating income is 60 million euros less than expected, and without the additional proceeds from the sale of assets, Barça's normal operation will bring a loss of more than 105 million euros.

In addition, in the 2022-23 season, Barça made a budget of a staggering 190 million euros in net profit. Revenue increased from 1,017 million to 1,255 million, partly because ticket revenue was expected to increase by $150 million, and on the other hand, as leverage gains from asset sales, which increased by $140 million from the previous season.

However, the final figure, in terms of recurring revenue, may be larger than last season's -60 million shortfall. Because the team stopped at the round of 24 of the Europa League, although La Liga won the title, its income was only more than 10 million more than that of the runner-up (La Liga has to be paid in 4 years).

The most frightening thing is that Barça's budget cost this season is very staggering, reaching 1.065 billion. More than $400 million of revenue comes from non-replicable and unsustainable leverage (selling assets), but expenses may be long-term (after all, they are routine, not leverage).

Therefore, La Liga requires Barça to reduce labor expenditure by 200 million next season on the basis of the budget, which is a reasonable request.

After all, Barça's leveraged income of more than 750 million yuan will only bring 280 million in profit (this figure is only a budget, and it is very likely that it will not be met at the moment).

That means that if Barça doesn't sell its assets, the losses in these two years will be staggeringly high.

b. Signing Messi: In fact, it is the concept of signing 2 Gundogan

From the Barça salary cap approved by La Liga, it can be seen that the current size of the team is 649 million euros. In principle, it is not particularly difficult for Barca to sign a player with an annual salary of 20-25 million yuan.

Because there is no transfer fee, no loyalty bonus and signing fee, Messi's signing cost is only 2 Gundogan.

In terms of overall debt, as of a year ago, Barça's total was only 60 million (reaching 1.518 billion) more than Real Madrid's 1.458 billion. However, Real Madrid's debt of 886 million comes from the new stadium. In terms of the payment of employee salaries and transfer fees, the gap between Barca and Real Madrid is small.

It is worth noting that Barça's biggest pressure is the borrowing it bears for day-to-day operations. Laporta underwent a debt restructuring, turning short-term borrowings that were maturing into long-term debt for the next 10 years.

Although the annual interest has been reduced from 41 million to 30 million in nominal terms, it is actually more than 8 years to bear the total financing cost of more than 200 million, which is the price paid by Barça (not including the new debt and new interest brought by the Camp Nou expansion plan).

Conclusion:

To sum up, Barca on the books of the current season, it seems that it is not difficult to bring in Messi. But considering the huge financial burden of Barça in the future, especially after 10-20 years, the team should probably open source and reduce expenses as soon as possible.

It may also be that in Laporta's plan, Barça will end membership sooner or later. Then the new owner will come up with 5-6 billion to buy the team and pay off the debt, and it seems that all the problems will disappear. After all, any title won and brought back Messi, glory will belong to Laporta and his team.