I'm not saying they were ok before COVID, their accounts said so. EBITDA was good even excluding player trading and they were turning profits(albeit very small in 18/19). They were basically at their limit, but being at your limit doesn't mean you're in deep trouble. Just that if something happens that greatly changes things(like, say, a pandemic) then they'd be in serious hot waters. It was mismanagement on their part, but not that gross
And again, it's not that they overpaid Messi, it's that they brutally overpaid everyone else