translated from Spanish: Joan Laporta acknowledged that Messi’s renewal with Barcelona “progresses”

For the first time in his career, Lionel Messi is a free player and it is now two days in which the Argentine crack has no club after ending his last contract with Barcelona. However, this does not mean that his end of history with the Catalan club is official and in the institution they work to avoid that. These days, President Joan Laporta manages a series of meetings to polish the details of Leo’s continuity and assured that everything “is progressing.” “He wants to stay, we want him to stay. And we are on the way to finding the formula,” he told Spanish media. One of the main obstacles holding back Messi’s continuity in the Blaugrana team is the salary cap imposed by the League. The club is obliged to reduce the cost of its current squad by 200 million as it has suffered severe revenue losses due to the pandemic, which do not coincide with its current internal expenditure.

Lionel Messi and Joan Laporta. Photo: Reuters

Even though this isn’t the only conflict, it’s the one that really has Barcelona and the relationship with La Liga in jeopardy. That is why a key meeting will be held with Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, to define issues related to the Argentine’s future from the economic point of view. On the other hand, the fiscal issue and the postponements of payments to which would be added those of the new contract would be other complications to arise, but both Barcelona and La Liga know that they can not contemplate the possibility of Messi leaving the country because of the economic damage that this would entail. The day-to-day mark that the agreement between Barcelona and Lionel Messi is done, but other details remain. If this is resolved, a new bond is expected for two more seasons and from there Leo would use his freedom of action to change his destination, where everyone points to a future in the MLS of the United States.

Original source in Spanish