Messi will renew his contract with Barca, but the club will face many financial problems and choices

Sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Barcelona have already reached a new 5-year contract with Messi in principle, but that does not mean the club's problems are resolved. Their total debt is still $1.2 billion and if La Liga starts tomorrow, the 34-year-old club legend will not be able to play as Messi's salary has already exceeded Barcelona's salary cap. It's one thing to get Messi to promise a "big pay cut" clause, but the club's biggest hurdle is leaving room on salary to register him before the start of the new season a month later.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned Barca that they must drastically reduce their spending, not only for the new contract with Messi, but also for their other new signings. Including Messi, one of the longest friends on the football pitch, Sergio Aguero, and Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay, who are all visa-free, but if Barca can't cut enough players, a rough estimate is to pay 100 million euros to La Liga, otherwise they will not be able to register for the new season. Barca also had to get other stars out of the team, including the highest-paid Antoine Griezmann.

Messi has been a free agent since July 1. He won the Copa America in Argentina, his first national team intercontinental title, but before the new contract was officially signed, he was not part of Barcelona, the record holder and all-time top scorer was no longer a Barca player, he had won 34 team trophies and 6 Ballon d'Ors in his Barca shirt, but now, this is the first time he has officially linked with the club.

Laporta's return to the presidency is a major reason the Argentines want to stay now. Messi has publicly disagreed with the former chairman and said he wanted to leave Camp Nou last summer. The changes on the pitch also played a role in helping Messi stay. Barca have won the Copa del Rey and brought in new players, and young star Fati is on the verge of returning from a long-term injury. "The best way to persuade Messi to stay is to build a team that can compete at all levels, not throw money at him," Laporta said. ”

With this week's deal, Barca no longer have to worry about Messi moving to other teams, sources told ESPN, and the team expressed confidence that "everything will be fine". But the club is facing some big decisions to bring the team's salary into line. So who must they sacrifice to make room for Messi's salary? Wouldn't it be a faster solution to give the veteran a free transfer now and accelerate the rebuild that began last summer?

Can Barca meet la Liga's spending limits?

Every club in the Spanish league was given a spending limit at the start of the season and was renewed again in the January transfer window. This limit is calculated by taking the sum of a club's income minus the structural costs and debt repayments for the next season. Barcelona expect a salary cap of more than €800 million in 2020-21, but they promise it will eventually be much lower, although official figures have yet to be released. The final figures include salaries paid to first-team players and coaching staff, academy fees, transfer fees and agent agency fees.

Entering the summer of 2019-20, Barca's league cap was £671 million, thanks to revenues of close to £1 billion. By January, their cap had been reduced to £347 million. Neither Barca nor La Liga will confirm the transfer limit for the new season to ESPN, but there are reports that the limit will be around £200 million.

Sources from Barcelona say revenues have been more affected than other clubs during the coronavirus pandemic because they have made a lot of money on match days and travel in the past. Now, the closure of empty stadiums, club shops and museums hit them hard. Tebas, meanwhile, insists Barca are struggling more than other clubs such as rival Real Madrid as they have maximised spending in recent years.

Tebas said last week: "The biggest difference is that Barca have been at their limits in terms of wages". When an outbreak comes up, they have no way to alleviate it. There is no wage spending that reaches its limits like other clubs do with them. They lost £350 million in revenue during the pandemic. This is not normal, especially as we continue to promote our rights in Europe. Although Real Madrid also has salary restrictions, they have not been greatly affected by the epidemic.

In fact, Messi's last contract was the largest ever for a professional athlete. Over a four-year period, the total value of the contract, including the signing fee, the potential bonus and his salary, exceeded 500 million euros. In an interview with ESPN last week, Tebas said Barca are unlikely to pay Messi the same high salary this season, while keeping the team's total salary within the league's salary cap.

Last year, Messi's annual salary was 72 million euros, which is 20% of Barca's 347 million euro spending ceiling. If the salary cap is reduced to 200 million euros next season, and if he agrees to a salary cut of half his original salary, then the figure will still reach around 18%. Sources say his new contract is staggered, so he's paid less in his first year than he was in his fifth year, but there are still more than 100 million euros in wage bills to be reduced before the club can take into account the salaries the club still has to give to Aguero, Depay and Garcia.

If you think it's okay for clubs to ignore team spending caps, you're wrong. This may not happen to big-name players like Messi, but there are precedents in La Liga denying clubs to register players. In 2014, Getafe was unable to register Pedro Leon because their spending cap had reached its limit. He spent 5 months off the pitch before the issue was resolved.

Which players can leave to balance Messi's new contract?

Now that Barca have reached an agreement with Messi, they need to provide the relevant salary data to the league at a certain time period, and then the league needs to confirm that the club has not violated their spending limits. Barca have two effective ways to give him enough room for his new contract next season: increased revenue and lower wages.

The first thing Laporta did on the board was to obtain a loan worth 525 million euros. The money will not be used to pay for Messi's new contract, but will be used in part to restructure part of the club's debt. Short-term payments will be replaced by long-term payments, meaning debt payments will not cut club spending limits as they did in the new season. After agreeing to an extension last November, the loan was also used to pay some of the players' salaries.

The main area where Barca can make room for Messi's new contract signing is through the transfer market. The club has moved a number of fringe players, including AMERICAN wingers Conrad de la Fuente, Jean-Clare Todibo, Carles Allina and youngsters Firpo, who are around £35m. Trincon's salary was also saved by his loan to Wolves, a Premier League club that could sign the winger permanently for €25 million next summer. Matthews Fernandez, meanwhile, terminated his contract via email this summer and returned to his old side Palmeiras. Sources say the Brazilian midfielder, who signed for 7 million euros during the Bartomeu era, is considering suing the club over how he was fired.

Even if these players could save Barca 15 million euros in wages, it would not be enough. Tebas insists that for every €4 saved in Barca, it will be allowed to invest €1. This will continue until they comply with the new spending limits.

Tebas said: "For example, Barca currently have players such as Aguero who will spend £50 million next season which means £200 million will have to be cut in salary cuts or transfers".

The quickest way to lift the salary cap in the short term is to get Griezmann out. Sources told ESPN that it is "almost impossible" to keep Griezmann and Messi at the same time and comply with the league's salary cap. Messi's stay means Barca are pushing hard for a transfer from Griezmann, with Atletico Madrid likely to return to Atletico Madrid in 2019 with £120 million, with sources confirming to ESPN on Wednesday that Barca and Atletico have negotiated an exchange deal, with Griezmann returning to Madrid and Atletico midfielder Saul moving to Barca. All parties are willing to reach an agreement, but much remains to be done to reach an agreement.

The problem is that Atletico don't have a lot of money either. Other players have also been discussed, including left-back Renan Lodi, but giving up Griezmann's salary in order to sign two players from Atletico will not radically reduce Barca's salary. Even if Barca can save Griezmann's total salary of 30 million euros, Saul earns much less, so Barca still has more work to do.

Barca, meanwhile, are struggling to sell other high-paid players. Sources say Barca will struggle to find teams willing to pay salaries like Umtiti and Coutinho. An agent told ESPN that every club in Europe knows how "desperate" Barca are. Umtiti has a gross income of around €12 million and Barca are looking to find a loan contract for the French defender. A source close to Coutinho said he was willing to transfer if there was a suitable offer and confirmed AC Milan's interest in him, but the Brazilian has not played since last December due to a knee injury.

Although he was only signed last summer, Pjanic was told by the team that he was redundant. Sources told ESPN that the 31-year-old is in talks with "big clubs" in England, Italy, France and Germany and is open to transfers, with few appearances under Ronald Koeman. Substitute goalkeeper Neto and striker Martin Braithwaite could also leave the team. Winger Dembele will stay in France temporarily after being injured at the European Championship, with a source close to defender Clement Rencret saying he, like left-back Jody Alba, has no intention of leaving.

Barca are also pleading with other players to take pay cuts. Lenglet, De Jong, Pique and Ter Stegen have all signed new contracts at the end of 2020 that can all be adjusted to help the club cope with its financial crisis and the coronavirus crisis. Barca hope that Alba, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto, whose contracts are about to expire, will agree to similar terms.

In addition, there is an opportunity to sell shares in The Barça Company, the Barcelona Academy Project, the Barça Innovation Center, the Barça Licensing and Sales (BLM) and a subsidiary of the Barça Studio. But sources acknowledge that there are doubts about pursuing that option, as selling these sales rights could be a short-term victory, but the future is still difficult.

Should Barcelona let Messi go?

The status quo in the future is this: can Barca solve all their financial problems without renewing their contract with the 34-year-old Messi? His previous salaries (excluding bonuses, signing fees and loyalty fees) totaled around €72 million a year.

Messi's new contract structure is actually good for both parties. Although Messi has agreed to a sharp pay cut that would reduce his income by about 20 million euros in the first year, he was awarded a five-year contract. This means that the money he previously expected to earn in two to three years will be paid out in five years. Will he continue to play football at the age of 39? Maybe. But the agreement says Messi that he will be compensated so that Barca can pay the money for a longer period of time.

Without Messi, can Barca still function in good condition? Of course, the club does not lack offensive potential and promising young players, but this is not an open or undisclosed issue that Laporta and his board are willing to address. They still consider Messi to be the best player in the world, he is the best player in this copa America and the top scorer in this summer's Copa America.

Off the pitch, Messi is also very important to the club. Earlier this year, when the details of Messi's more than €500 million contract were announced, the Catalan media rushed to defend him. They said his salary was covered by the income he brought to the club from sponsorship contracts, merchandise sales and other aspects. Laporta said Messi generated a third of Barca's 2019-2020 earnings for 855 million euros.

Messi is equally important to La Liga, although Tebas stressed that this will not be a rule for Barca and Messi, and for other players and teams, the rules are the same.

"The current rules have to be followed, they have to adapt and find solutions in themselves," he said. I've talked to Laporta. When the Italian league bought Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus signed him from Real Madrid for €100 million in 2018), they told me that the broadcast rights would increase. Real Madrid just lost 200 million euros in international television rights, a 10% loss nationwide. This is similar to Neymar in France. I would be sorry if Messi left, he is the best player of all time, but we should not focus too much on the individual players. ”