Leo Messi and Barcelona are condemned to understand each other if they want to avoid a war in the courts that would not benefit anyone. So both parties, with the necessary presence of Manchester City, which is the team that has almost all the ballots to take the Argentine star, They have decided that it is time to sit down and talk and agree on a friendly way out.
Messi will leave, but Barça could receive money and players in exchange in an operation that is pending to be negotiated, but that, according to sources on both sides, It could end with Messi in Manchester and with Barcelona entering in exchange 100 million euros plus three players. In short, an operation that would allow the current board to present it as the most expensive transfer in its history above the 222 million they charged three years ago for Neymar when he went to Paris Saint-Germain.
The base of this way out It would be based on a meeting between Messi's lawyers and Barcelona lawyers that could take place today. In no case Messi will meet with Bartomeu. This is a case that the legal representatives of both parties will take in a technical and non-sentimental discussion.
Exiting the agreement is the one that most benefits the parties and, in addition, has the blessing of Manchester City. The team led by Pep Guardiola is clearly the best placed in the race to get the Argentine footballer, But in no way will the British team risk a brave exit that is pending a judge's resolution in a few years and that forces them to pay the 700 million clause. There neither City nor PSG want to risk playing. If they are made with Leo's services, it will always be through a transfer agreement. All are condemned to understand each other.
The exit depends, according to sources with first-hand knowledge of the negotiation, on the price set by Barcelona. The City considers that a reasonable agreement would be to pay 100 million and add players as a barter. In this way, Messi would be sold for the same price for which Madrid transferred Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus and according to the value added to the players that could enter the operation the global value of the same would exceed the 222 million entered by Neymar.
The players that City could include in the operation would be Gabriel Jesús, Eric García, Bernardo Silva and Angeliño. It remains to be seen if Barcelona are interested in these names. There Ronald Koeman will have a lot to say because the challenge of building a post-Messi team is gigantic.
Bartomeu, reluctant. An obstacle has emerged from this path of reconciliation, as reported by Catalunya Ràdio in the Tot Costa program. As reported by the Catalan public radio, Josep Maria Bartomeu is not about to accept a friendly agreement. The station literally said that “Bartomeu he is not willing to go down in history as the president who sold Messi and will not sign the agreement if the termination clause is not paid. “
This position may be a negotiating tactic on the part of the Barcelona president that will soften as the meetings go by and the climate calms down after the storm caused by the burofax.
The player, for his part, will show his face and offer explanations shortly, but in no way will he enter the rag that the Barcelona president handed him on Thursday when he offered his resignation in exchange for the star to reconsider his position. Messi's agenda will be set by Messi himself, who is studying with his advisers the best way to appear. In this field, all options are open, as well as those of the calendar.
Messi's argumentation will revolve around sports issues and finished cycles, and he does not value entering the club's institutional politics. Especially in electoral year and taking into account that the relationship with Bartomeu has been very little fluid lately.