Lionel Messi‘s departure from Barcelona is a huge blow to the club’s future aspirations and image. Messi will leave Barcelona with a total of35 trophies, including six Ballon d’Or honors, 10 La Liga crowns, four Champions League trophies, and three Club World Cups. In Spain, he played at Camp Nou for more than half of his career.
For the first time in his professional career, he will not continue towearthe Blaugrana jersey anymore, but will instead don a different shirt. The last time was when he was a brilliant 13-year-old phenom at Newell’s Old Boys in his native Argentina.
Camp Nou’s news conference room has hosted the soccer veteranon Sunday, August 8, three days after the club announced that he would not be returning. It was not until today that the superstar addressed the public about his departure, as a result of Thursday’s shocking revelation.
Lionel Messi’s press conference: 3 moments when his facial expressions did the talking
As Lionel Messi revealed that he never intended to leave the club this summer, thus confirming that a move to Paris Saint-Germain is not impossible at his final press conference as a Barcelona player, he broke down in tears. However, tears were not everything the press could see. Take a look at some of Messi’sfacial expressions and what they could mean.
When talking about Paris Saint-Germain
Messi talking about Paris Saint-Germain. (FC Barcelona @ Youtube)
“Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility, yes. For now, I haven’t agreed anything with anyone. I have received a lot of calls after the Barcelona statement, several clubs have been interested.Nothing is decided yet but we are in talks…”
In moments when the atmosphere was purely emotional and tearful ashe was asked about what his next move would be, with PSG included in the question, Messi’s face suddenly changed. His eyes widened and he was not afraid to finally put a smile on his face for the first time during the press conference.
In his eyes, one could seethe same oldcompetitive fire that burns inside the 34-year-old natural-born winner, as if he is relishing the chance to fight for some more wins, more titles, and an even bigger legacy.
Whentalking aboutBarcelona presidentBartomeu
Messi talking about Josep Maria Bartomeu. (FC Barcelona @ Youtube)
“I am really sad because I didn’t want to leave this club, it’s a club that I love.Last year when all the nonsense with the Burofax was going on I was convinced [to leave]. But this year no.”
Instead of talking about whether heis still disappointed in formerBarcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Messi opted to express his love for the club. Practically, by switching the topic, he failed to mention the name of Bartomeuat all. It is obvious that the forward’s relationship with the ex-Barca boss is beyond repair, especially considering the fact that Messi did mention not once but multiple times that he had wanted to leave the club last summer.
At the time, Bartomeu was still inoffice, and in an interview with Goal, the Argentine ace accused the Spanish entrepreneur of frequently lying to him over a long period of time. In fact, it was Bartomeu who was the main culprit as to why Leo had wished to quit the Blaugrana back in 2020.
Whentalking about La Liga presidentTebas
Messi talking about Javier Tebas. (FC Barcelona @ Youtube)
“My new contract had beenagreed,it was all done. I wanted to stay and when I came back from my holidays, it was a done job. Then it is how Joan Laporta explained -at the last minute, with everything happeningwith La Liga, it couldn’t happen.”
Having puton a bitter smile and taken a deep breath, Messi addressedanother hot, but apparently painful topic. Javier Tebas can pretty much be observed as this year’s version of Josep Maria Bartomeu. The only difference is, Bartomeu failed to succeed in pushing the star out of the club, even though he is certainly directly responsible for the culmination of the entire Messisaga. It is Javier Tebas who has finished what Bartomeu started a long time ago, but everything comes with a price, ironically in this case.Leo’s departure would surely lead to a fall in ratings for La Liga, less revenue, and a downslide in fans’ and public interest.
La Liga and Financial Fair Play regulations require Barcelona to decrease the salarycap to comply with their debt of more than €1 billion. In Messi’s new contract, the club’s pay expenditure would have accounted for 110 percent of their revenue. It would have been difficult to register the 34-year-old in La Liga, even after taking a large wage cut, because the Spanish league’sspending ceiling has been lowered from around €600m in 2019-20 to an estimated €200m for the upcoming season.
