How Lionel Messi went from signing a contract with Barcelona to leaving in 3 days – exit details revealed
An exit that shook the foundations of football – Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona was the headline of the club's website that shocked the world. Messi had to sign a new deal with the Blaugrana, and he came to town to do it on Thursday, August 5, 2021, only to be told he couldn't. On Sunday, he bid a tearful farewell to the club and fans.
The beginning of his exit was set in motion on Monday. President Joan Laporta had run for election with the promise that he would be the one to keep Messi at the club, and had agreed terms with Argentina to do so. The money for that deal was to come from the infamous CVC deal, which involved La Liga selling 10% of its TV rights for the next 50 years for an immediate €2.1 billion cash injection for clubs that they could be used to pay. wages and invest in infrastructure. Sport they revealed how Barcelona's involvement in that deal collapsed, and then led to Messi's exit.
The president of the League, Javier Tebas, had explained the terms of the agreement the door in a secret meeting in Lleida, in July, and was all set to do so with the rest of the clubs, when the president of Real Madrid Florentino Perez won the agreement, he immediately questioned the head CVC Javier de Jaime about the terms of the agreement. , having not been informed before – Perez does considerable business with CVC, putting him in a position of power.
Marcus Rashford's favorite destination in Spain is Barcelona. He thinks his skill set fits well with the club's style of play. Barça is informed about his situation, but so far has not taken a step forward to sign him. @sport pic.twitter.com/WGwG62fI95
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 26, 2024
Perez did not see the benefits of the deal for Real Madrid, and informed General Manager Jose Angel Sanchez, before asking if Barcelona knew about the deal. In turn, he called his counterpart at Camp Nou Ferran Reverter, explaining the rough terms of the agreement. He was not aware of the agreement, since Laporta had conducted the meeting without telling the others, hoping to reveal the agreement once to Messi to return it was signed and sealed.
Reverter called Jose Elias, who was the guarantor of Laporta's board to talk about the deal. It was the bank guarantee of 40 million euros of Elias that had Laporta and his council in power, and one of the terms of that support was that he must be informed at all times of any agreement that could affect his warranty. The fact Reverter called Elias before the president was seen as a betrayal by Laporta, and essentially ended his time at the club, with his exit finally official in February 2022.
Elias was angry to have discovered the details of the affair, and made it known to Laporta. This happened in the space of a few hours on Monday, and Elias made it clear that if Laporta wrote the CVC agreement, he would immediately withdraw his bank guarantee of 40 million euros. With no alternative to finance the contract, Laporta felt his hands were tied, and saw this as the end of Messi's time at the club.
Barcelona is calm when it comes to Nico Williams, who is attracting interest from several big clubs such as Bayern Munich. They know firsthand that he would prefer to go to Barça. @sport pic.twitter.com/PiMhZtsq1m
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 25, 2024
Jorge Messi, Messi's father and agent, was traveling to Barcelona to conclude the deal, and told Laporta directly that money would never be a problem, and Messi would stay at all costs. At this point, Laporta had made the call, and after ruling out the CVC deal, he felt there was no going back. Therefore, the Messis continue to feel that Laporta is selling them, and that his exit was not purely financial.
The Sport piece notes that Laporta had “no other alternative”, but of course this is one side and the interpretation of events. Laporta put himself in the situation where the problem had not been resolved three days before Messi was supposed to sign his contract, and he could have informed Elias or Reverter before the agreement was revealed to him by others. Ultimately, Laporta was in an incredibly difficult situation, with a series of difficult decisions to make, but he did not keep his promise to keep Messi at the club.