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The president of the Spanish League, Javier Tebas, is confident Barcelona will be able to register Lionel Messi in time for the start of the new season despite the club’s financial problems.
Tebas admitted other leagues around Europe would celebrate if Messi left La Liga but said he believed Barcelona would solve the problem of giving him a new contract within the boundaries of Spanish football’s salary cap.
‘Of course our rivals will be happy if he leaves, but let’s see what happens,’ he said. ‘As far as I know he has not signed for anyone else. Right now he is a lot a closer to staying at Barcelona than he is going to another club.’
Barcelona have yet to tie star man Lionel Messi down to a new contract with the club
La Liga's own Financial Fair Play rules limit what each club spends on salaries every season and Barcelona need to wipe 187m euros off their existing wage bill – something that does nothing to help them offer Messi a new contract after his existing one ran out last month.
But Tebas said: ‘I still think they will solve their problems,’ adding that the global financial crisis meant no one could afford to offer Messi the sort of contract he was given in 2017.
‘It’s unthinkable that he could get the same contract at Barcelona and that goes for other clubs. It would be very difficult for any club in Europe to be able to play that contract,’ he said.
When asked if that included Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain Tebas said: ‘If City have just had losses of 270m euros and PSG 240m [because of the pandemic] it’s clear they cannot pay Messi’s contract. If they are able to sign Messi by
