Lionel Messi \ Signs for PSG

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Sultan

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If he comes to United I will make my heart rule over my mind and make all the excuses and reasons for moving. If he happens to move somewhere else it's his life and prerogative. It's news for a few days and something to pass our time debating. Personally, makes no difference to me as a United fan if he plays for Barcelona or PSG.
 

Jim Beam

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There is absolute no chance Messi was staying and only found out he couldn’t stay merely 4 days ago. A deal involving this much money being done in this short space of time with not even a hint of another club enquiring? I call bollocks.
Ditto. He was in contact with PSG for a while. How some people are buying all this is ridiculous.
 

sullydnl

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There is absolute no chance Messi was staying and only found out he couldn’t stay merely 4 days ago. A deal involving this much money being done in this short space of time with not even a hint of another club enquiring? I call bollocks.
He had asked to leave Barca just a year ago. At that point he would have already discussed potential terms with the likes of PSG. In this case they'd just be picking up from that point.

I wouldn't imagine it took us long to discuss terms with Sancho this summer either, for example. They already know what's on offer.
 

Paolo Di Canio

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I get that it’s a job and you’re wanting to be paid as such, but when you’re worth about £400m I’m sure you could just play for free if the club meant that much to you.

That’s the reason for the cynicism on here, he hasn’t actually done “everything” in his power to stay.
Barcelonas wage percentage per revenue is 115%, without messis wage its 95%, la ligas rules need to be 70%,

So yes, even if he played for free, they couldnt register him
 

mu4c_20le

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You would if you loved something and was more important than money.
I just love it when people onthe internet use their own experience at Walmart to compare with millionaire footballers who grew up at a club for over a decade
 

spiriticon

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You would if you loved something and was more important than money.
If it's a charity sure, but 1) Barca are not a charity 2) I'm not working for free while my colleague AG gets 880k a week for doing sweet feck all

And really I'd just rather retire than work for free if I had half a billion squids. But hey ho...
 

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I wonder how many of us are worth half a billion quid.
Homeless guy on the street across you would say exactly the same about our cushy jobs and be amazed we can moan things like a dick boss, only x% increment, not great HR policies and so on.
 

Green_Red

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If the reports of PSG offering €25mil a year after tax are true we should be in the mix for his signature. This is a once in a lifetime signing opportunity. To have one of the best players in history in your colours is well worth that money.
 

spiriticon

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I just love it when people onthe internet use their own experience at Walmart to compare with millionaire footballers who grew up at a club for over a decade
Some bank company directors have been with the same company for over a decade and are dead rich, but I'd really be surprised if they'd work for free if the company is at risk of going under. They'd just change jobs, which is what Messi is doing.

I think you guys are taking the romance of football to a level which is not in line with normal thinking.
 

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Some bank company directors have been with the same company for over a decade and are dead rich, but I'd really be surprised if they'd work for free if the company is at risk of going under.

I think you guys are taking the romance of football to a level which is not in line with normal thinking.
The bank directors never proclaim their undying love for the bank.
 

Varun

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If the reports of PSG offering €25mil a year after tax are true we should be in the mix for his signature. This is a once in a lifetime signing opportunity. To have one of the best players in history in your colours is well worth that money.
It seems like a done deal with PSG. They have too much going for them anyway
 

pratyush_utd

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If the reports of PSG offering €25mil a year after tax are true we should be in the mix for his signature. This is a once in a lifetime signing opportunity. To have one of the best players in history in your colours is well worth that money.
He will get few oil wells after he retires. This salary number is just a sham.
 

redshaw

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So if you played for United and had all the money you ever dreamed of and more. You don't think you could get by on 200k a week for the next 4 years? Save the fake tears about loving the club. He just loves the money.
Well Messi could offer to pay Barca 200k week to play and they couldn't register him. He's a free agent this summer and needs to be resigned by the club but they can't until they reduce their wage bill. Without Messi it's 95% of their current revenue.
 

JPRouve

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Quick Google, their best season saw them reach the quarter final of the cup?

I think it's fair to say the modern PSG is far more the result of what businessmen did in 1970 (and QIA in 2011) than anything that went before.
Yes but that's part of their history since 1904. History isn't limited to just being successful and the 50 following years are also part of the history of the club. We don't really consider that only clubs that have won a lot since the beginning of times have history?
 

klsv

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Would have been a bit easier to renew before his contract expired, no?
 

hellhunter

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Does that mean anything? I'm happy to go on TV and say 'I love my company tomorrow' but I'm still gone if they can't pay me.
And if your company had any fans or similar, they'd call you greedy.

I don't have any issues with him demanding top dollar. I just think it doesn't really fit with this illusion that he absolutely loves Barcelona, owes them his career and so on. It's a bit moot anyway, since they couldn't have registered him even for free.
 

mu4c_20le

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Some bank company directors have been with the same company for over a decade and are dead rich, but I'd really be surprised if they'd work for free if the company is at risk of going under. They'd just change jobs, which is what Messi is doing.

I think you guys are taking the romance of football to a level which is not in line with normal thinking.
So mes que un club is now just a soulless entity that exists purely for making money ?
 

JPRouve

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People getting duped by this bullshit. Can you explain then why Barca have not released a statement saying they will definitely not be signing Depay and Aguero as originally planned? Why is Messi the only casualty at the moment?
Messi is the headliner but it has been said from day one that they can't register anyone at the moment. At least not in La Liga, if I'm not mistaken they can play in Copa del Rey and CL.
 

spiriticon

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And if your company had any fans or similar, they'd call you greedy.

I don't have any issues with him demanding top dollar. I just think it doesn't really fit with this illusion that he absolutely loves Barcelona, owes them his career and so on. It's a bit moot anyway, since they couldn't have registered him even for free.
He does love Barca, but not enough to work for free. I think the only time he (or any person) would consider that if he actually owns Barca, which he doesn't. He's just an employee.
 
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Jim Beam

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He had asked to leave Barca just a year ago. At that point he would have already discussed potential terms with the likes of PSG. In this case they'd just be picking up from that point.
Like "hey Leo, here are the papers from a year ago, just sign it!"

No way you can just pick up and sort a deal of that magnitude in a space of a day or two. I would say Messi and his camp were well aware of registration being practically impossible and sorting a deal with PSG for some time now.

This all looks quite convenient for both Laporta and Messi while looking horrendous on Bartomeu (and some can blame the league as well).

In short, "how to move on from Messi" (which is also the best thing in the long run for Barcelona imo). I think this scenario suits all parties.
 

hellhunter

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He does love Barca, but not enough to work for free. I think the only time he (or anybody person) would consider that if he actually owns Barca, which he doesn't. He's just an employee.
Yes, and I'm fine with that. Media narrative painting him as the saint playing for the passion of the game and the club he absolutely loves irks me, not his status as employee.

Think we'd feel rightfully pissed of if Scholes or Neville left because they were chasing money, even though as employees they're absolutely free to do so.
 

JPRouve

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He does love Barca, but not enough to work for free. I think the only time he (or anybody person) would consider that if he actually owns Barca, which he doesn't. He's just an employee.
In that scenario, he probably would go back to Argentina and play for free.
 

spiriticon

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So mes que un club is now just a soulless entity that exists purely for making money ?
Yup. 'Mes que un club' is a simple marketing slogan to enhance the image of the club. Similar to the 'Theatre of Dreams'.

It's romantic, but ultimately all about marketing if you put on your objective cap.
 

Rolaholic

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Saying someone should not feel sad because they have money has to be one of the most stupid things I keep seeing on the caf.
Ronaldo worship and those two CL finals against Barcelona have really done a number on a significant part of our fanbase.
It really has, some of these posts are head spinning :houllier::houllier:

The notion of playing for 'free', even though it wouldn't change a thing in this situation, is completely delusional and frankly absurd.
 

El Jefe

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There are some absolute weapons in this thread. Expecting Messi to work for free or at 20% of his worth is not how things work in the real world.
 

JPRouve

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Yup. 'Mes que un club' is a simple marketing slogan to enhance the image of the club. Similar to the 'Theatre of Dreams'.

It's romantic, but ultimately all about marketing if you put on your objective cap.
It's a political message. It's very different to the Theatre of Dreams.
 

RedDevilzFox

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You would if you loved something and was more important than money.
That's a totally emotional statement. One should never work for free unless its a charity. Football is a big business and Messi brings a lot of revenue for Barcelona. Its ridiculous to expect him to go pro-bono, no one else would. Are club execs not getting salaries? Why does Joan Laporta not work for free? He is wealthy himself.
 

royalewithcheese2006

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He does love Barca, but not enough to work for free. I think the only time he (or anybody person) would consider that if he actually owns Barca, which he doesn't. He's just an employee.
Surely the Barcelona salary isn't his only source of income and he gets paid millions from sponsorship deals? I'm not sure if you can equate footballers to the common folks like us because our jobs are most likely our only/main source of income and we haven't been paid 500m in the last 5 years.
For a guy who's stayed at Barcelona for 20+ years where they've done everything to keep him happy including hiring the likes of Tata Martino, the best he can do is agree to reduce his weekly wage from 2m to 1m?
I mean all this is if he could have kept Barca afloat by playing for free. It's a moot point if even registering him for free isn't possible due to financial regulations.
 

RedDevilzFox

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Surely the Barcelona salary isn't his only source of income and he gets paid millions from sponsorship deals? I'm not sure if you can equate footballers to the common folks like us because our jobs are most likely our only/main source of income and we haven't been paid 500m in the last 5 years.
For a guy who's stayed at Barcelona for 20+ years where they've done everything to keep him happy including hiring the likes of Tata Martino, the best he can do is agree to reduce his weekly wage from 2m to 1m?
I mean all this is if he could have kept Barca afloat by playing for free. It's a moot point if even registering him for free isn't possible due to financial regulations.
That's totally not the point. Messi at this point don't need the money, he has plenty.
But you never work for free in a job. Certainly not when you are the one largely contributing to massive amount of revenue for your employer.
 

ti vu

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It's only "all accounts" saying he didn't take a pay-cut if you selectively ignore all the ones that do.

For example, here's the Athletic reporting it:


The AP via Bloomberg:


Forbes (citing Marca):


The Times:


Leo Messi himself:


Barcelona's President:



And so on. Even the ones that mention possible deals for jobs on the back-end still involve his total income from Barca being slashed from what it was.
Make me wonder, if Messi signed the contract when he was under his previous contract, it wouldn't be an issue?!

The issue is now he's technically a free agent (requiring to register as new player), right?
 

spiriticon

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It's a political message. It's very different to the Theatre of Dreams.
Politics? I'm not sure about that. Besides Messi is Argentinian, so I'm not surprised if doesn't involve himself deeply in the whole Catalan political situation.
 

Sultan

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That's a totally emotional statement. One should never work for free unless its a charity. Football is a big business and Messi brings a lot of revenue for Barcelona. Its ridiculous to expect him to go pro-bono, no one else would. Are club execs not getting salaries? Why does Joan Laporta not work for free? He is wealthy himself.
That's understandable.

However, my reply was not necessarily just focused on the football industry.
 

JPRouve

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So either Laporta lied, or they are one of the most incompetent clubs in the world that don't understand the rules
Under Bartomeu they were one of the most incompetent club in the history. People somehow insinuate or maybe try to convince themselves that Barcelona doesn't generate money but they do, they generate more money than anyone not named Real Madrid and sometimes Manchester United. Their overall financial situation is down it incredible incompetence and the same is true for their inabilitiy to abide to rules they knew would be a problem.
 

BusbyMalone

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Sooo, what's happening with Aguero now? Presumably, he went there to play with Messi, and obviously, that ain't happening. Also, has he officially been registered yet? Considering they're having this problem with their wage bill. Same with Depay
 

JPRouve

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Politics? I'm not sure about that. Besides Messi is Argentinian, so I'm not surprised even if doesn't involve himself deeply in the whole Catalan political situation.
"Mes que un club" is about catalanism, it's entirely political and has little to do with football or Barcelona within football.
 
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