Salary cap + strict criteria related to reinvestment back into the game (talent and youth development, stadium upgrades, local charity initiatives) would be ideal. It can happen but expect massive opposition from the owners.
Lionel Messi’s Obscene Contract
- Thread starter Port Vale Devil
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
The pyramid is getting steeper because you have less sugar daddies than in the past which limits the amount of clubs with financial muscle, for example nowadays you don't have the equivalents of Berlusconi, Tapie, Canal Plus, Moratti or the multitude of owners that Serie A used to have. And only few players have a lucrative brand or a potential to have one, while the top 5-6 players will get big commercial deals, the 25th best player won't and if you reduce his wage in half he has no way to make up for it.
How anyone cannot atleast put a little bit of blame on Messi?
The guy is taking the piss. He knows barca finances yet puts them in a deeper hole.
The guy is taking the piss. He knows barca finances yet puts them in a deeper hole.
That's the problem. The playing field would be leveled so much it's a joke. It's all about who gets lucky with the draft. Granted we dont have draft system in europe but with salary cap teams like United would be hampered more than say... Southampton.
Off course southampton arent going to suddenly challenge for the title but salary cap would made them become more competitive. Since there's only so much united financial muscle can do with salary cap.
It's covid. It's abnormal situation. Other than that most clubs are fine. Those that arent are a victim of their own stupidity. Hardly fair to penalized everyone for that.
Why would that be ideal? You are just taking money away from players.
If there's no punishment for non-compliance why are Barca making this big song and dance about Messi not signing and players needing to be shipped out or take pay-cuts?
It wouldn't be pure opportunism, would it?
Football is a community sport. A big portion of the money generated should go back into the game. Without the game these players would never be in a position to make what they make. And who says they deserve the biggest pie? They are benefitted from the sweat of others before them. There are many many players and other key individuals who have built the game of football over centuries. Why should today’s player get paid obscene amounts instead of some of that money going back into the game so that fans can benefit through lower ticket prices, better stadium facilities etc. Or so that youth players can benefit from state of the art development. Or so that local communities can benefit from grass rot initiatives from local clubs. Of course the players are major contributors and should get paid handsomely but they should not get paid obscenely.
Problem today is that too much money goes directly to the pockets of players, agents, owners and too little to the fans, the community, etc. People are complaining about ticket prices but fail to connect the dots. Real shame.
I do understand Messi's position a little bit.
He's a big cost to them but also the reason their revenue is where it is. If they've fecked up their cost base buying poor players on stupid wages, that's not his fault. It does show how much loyalty he really has to them though if he's prepared to drive them into the ground to add a few more zeros to the hundreds of millions he's already got.
He's a big cost to them but also the reason their revenue is where it is. If they've fecked up their cost base buying poor players on stupid wages, that's not his fault. It does show how much loyalty he really has to them though if he's prepared to drive them into the ground to add a few more zeros to the hundreds of millions he's already got.
If I'm not mistaken there is no punishment for current contracts but in theory they can't register new players. Which would include Messi since he is currently a free agent.
Oh I see. It's a bit of a disaster for them not being able to register players.
So if Messi has signed a new contract 3 months ago, they wouldn’t have an issue? Except obviously the massive wage bill?
how did they sign Augero and Depay?
Messi has no loyalty he's always been at Barca for the dough and best surroundings suited for him. There's nothing wrong with that either tbf no reason to be loyal to clubs owned by billionaires in this day and age.
However he has never turned down an actual attractive offer from elsewhere.
It's worth noting that any contract Messi signs is automatically worth 20 or so percent more than anyone elses since he's exempt from paying taxes.
If the debts aren't sustainable you're gambling on something to happen. Ah, i'm spending more money than i earn, but if i just win the lottery or somehow start making more money in the future...I don't understand the debate.
The top management of Barcelona knows the pros and cons of a contract renewal: they believe the benefits exceed costs... at least in the short run.
The risk of unsustainable long-term debt can be mitigated in the long run....if they have the right long-term strategy.
They may also believe the Super League will be created at some point.
There is no denying the approach taken is very risky but they have no choice
Barcelona have fecked up, quite a lot. Insane fees and wages spent on players that have failed miserably at the club. The most high profile ones are Coutinho, Dembele and Griezmann, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
If the club is so badly fecked, that they reckon the loss of Messi would be so big for the club that it would also have an dramatic effect on the clubs overall income, and as a result they are willing to give him an obscene wage they can't really afford, then they need to re-evaluate things rather quickly.
In terms of Messi, he's been one of the best paid and most successfull athletes for years. It's not like he's been underpaid compared to what he could've made at another club, there's barely a club that could even come close to what Barcelona have been paying the fecker. His wages are detrimental to the club he's been in for ages but the club is seemingly desperate for him to stay. It's rather bizarre that there's so little focus on it. If he wants to feck off to another club, then by all means, no issues whatsoever, but if he's playing the waiting game in order to get as much as possible from Barcelona then it's beyond me how supporters can get behind him.
Isn't that a good thing for football in the long run? More competitive
They had just won 3 Champions Leagues in a row, and 3 Balon D'Or's I think in a row. Their marketability was at an all time high, with or without Ronaldo at that point.
Some will say Messi is being greedy, but we paid a useless lump from Arsenal almost the same weekly salary as Messi is demanding, to sit on our bench for a couple of seasons. We pay a washed up goalkeeper almost as much as Messi demands to warm our bench. Madrid pay a winger almost the same as Messi who can't get 5 minutes in the team. Messi is still winning games on his own at Barca sometimes, and is still the world's most marketable athlete.
Barcelona have to decide, will they be stronger on and off the pitch, with Messi on €500,000+ a week, or without him. I guess only their board can truly know the best answer to that question, by looking at their accountancy books from past 5 to 10 years.
Happy to see I can agree with you on a topic
I agree with you here. Life is made of risks and gambles as you know
You are talking as if you were a shareholder of Barcelona or one of their lenders.
Supporters just care about the following choice: "Life with the diva Messi" or "Life without".
Supporters just want to dance
How convenient.
Players are the ones creating the added value, we watch them play, we pay for their work. The commercial deals, ticket money and prize money are based on their work and images so they definitely deserve the bigger share of the pie. Would you apply that logic to yourself, should we reduce your wage because what you do is only possible due to what billions of people have done over millennia?
And professional football is the main contributor of football infrastructures whether it is because it financed private facilities or through taxes and mandatory contributions to amateur football when it comes to public infrastructures which is organized at all level FAs and UEFA. Professional football clubs are the ones financing academies and they own those academies too, and when it comes to grassroot football they are large financial contributors through solidarity schemes.
While football is a community sport, it doesn't concern professional football. You are free to play football within your community, you can watch amateur games for free every weekends but you are no entitled to watch professional games, the same way you are not entitled to be in the audience of a concert.
he doesn't care about them
De Jong earns more then Lewandowski.
Griezman earns twice as much as Lewandowski.
In short Barcelona are doomed
Griezman earns twice as much as Lewandowski.
In short Barcelona are doomed
Messi was the continuation of a trend Barcelona started a few years before with the arrival of Ronaldinho, having a global superstar to drive commercial activities as well as on pitch performance. Once Ronaldinho left it was on Messi's shoulders to continue the growth and he delivered on that, take either of them out of the club's history and you would see the effect it would have. Remember that in the 90s and early 00s Barcelona were not a top tier club alongside Madrid like they are now. Their revenues were actually declining in the early 2000s.
This is a plot of the revenues of Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United from the 2003-2004 season to the 2018-2019 season.
The club has been growing its revenues at a similar rate as comparable clubs and at a steady pace since before Messi broke into the team. This suggests that Messi is not, in fact, unique to Barcelona on financial terms.
You can't even really tell when Messi became a superstar just by looking at this.
The game is not a divinity.
Any Chelsea fan should know Professional Football is a business, a very lucrative business whose heart is the professional players (20-35 individals)
You know the law of supply and demand.
If the stadiums are empty, the ticket prices will sharply decline.
another blind take, Barca have to shave off tons of money. With or without Messi re-signing. People are acting like Messi asked for 300M and Barca are scrambling to please him. If anything he’s just waiting for them to get their finances in order which has far far more to do with la liga’s salary cap than Messi
Even if Messi's contract leaks are true, he "only" accounts for a 3rd of the amount they need to cut.
St Messi.
No, more like st research. Try it sometime
Earlier on you said he was looking for 12m.
That would change many people's opinion on how he's conducting himself.
Do you have a source for that?
exactly, he’s going to take a substantial cut with this next contract as Will many other players. Laporta has to clean up barto’s mess
Let me find that for you, give me a sec sorry
Correlation is not causation. There's nothing here but a graph and the fact that Messi was at the club.
Feel free to elaborate what i've claimed, or written, that's incorrect.No, more like st research. Try it sometime
No, but it doesn't need a thesis to show Messi's presence had a significant impact on Barcelona's success, commercial appeal, and revenue over the last 15 years. He knows the value he has provided to the club.
Indeed, without doubt the Megan Rapinoe of men's football.
What are people basing their opinion on if no one knows what his salary demands are or what the reason is for not having signed yet?
Even if Messi asks only for 12M (doubt it, I think 25-30M is the minimum), Barca's in so much trouble that there's no way how to make them more competitive in next two seasons. If Griezmann and Braithwaite or Dembele move this summer they replaced them with short-term options like Aguero and Depay, just delaying that moment when they actually have to start fixing it.
And yet nobody has thus far been able to quantify the impact in any meaningful way.
Some say Messi's poo smells like crispy creme and that the reason he hasn't signed yet is because he's waiting for Barcelona to comply with La Liga salary caps before signing and that his wage demands are perfectly reasonable, no matter what they are.