Between the sports journalists that cover the Barcelona information is being institutionalized a guild joke in which when they greet each other they always begin with the phrase “not one afternoon of (here put any day of the week) quiet”. And is that the Messi case offers constant script twists since it exploded with the shipment of the most famous burofax in the world last Tuesday in which the Argentine requested his immediate departure from Barça at zero cost.
Since then, bewilderment has raged at ease. From the player's initial intention to leave for free, he went on to agree an exit in which Barça seemed resigned to giving up the player who changed at the last minute Saturday when Bartomeu, who on Thursday offered his head in exchange for Messi staying, plant now and say you will only meet with Messi to renew him and that he does not intend to negotiate a reduction, or a transfer with players in exchange: or 700 million clause or nothing. There is also the bewilderment about their possible destinations or the reasons that lead him to adopt this measure when he would be released on June 30. Faced with all these questions, we will try to order answers.
How does not showing up for the tests today affect the situation?
Through his lawyers, Messi communicated to Barcelona that I had no intention to appear today in the morning at the meeting called by the club to the entire squad so that pass the corresponding PCR tests prior to starting training with Koeman Tomorrow is Monday. This new burofax returns the hostilities at the beginning. The approach attempts on both sides of Friday and Saturday when it came to agreeing a friendly exit they see boycotted for a gesture, which although it seemed the most logical in view of the situation, will make the fans feel very bad and will taken advantage of by the directive. Internally, an absence is considered a minor offense, the second, which will occur on Monday when he will not train either, will already derive in serious fault and a file will be opened to be financially sanctioned according to his salary.
Are the club's legal arguments much stronger?
From the club the conviction that Messi It has been wrong it is such that an authorized source of the Blaugrana entity commented to this newspaper that “legally, Messi is dead“. He contract of the player specifies that it could disengage unilaterally from the entity as long as it communicates it “before of the June 10th, that is, 20 days before the end of the 19-20 season. ” FIFA decreed the season extension because of the pandemic, one of the arguments to which the Messi's legal representatives to defend their position, but Barça believes that they also have all the aces in their favor there. They ensure from the entity that “the season ended August 23 with the dispute of the Champions League final, so Messi should have notified on August 3 and not after the final. “Here, from Messi's surroundings, reference is made to they communicated their intention to speak within the agreed deadlines.
Was the burofax a blunder that turns against him?
He burofax is a common method in the world of Spanish football to communicate contractual decisions, but that does not mean that the forms used by the player have been fatal in Barcelona. From the environment of the player they defend that before the burofax exhausted the communication channels. At Barça, instead, they feel that got stabbed by the player and that things should have been done differently. This way of acting, no matter how regulatory, He hasn't done Messi any favors. Even his strongest supporters among the Catalans spoil the gesture although they understand his reasons for leaving.
Did you make a mistake announcing your goodbye without having a closed deal with City?
Messi did not have a closed agreement nor with him City nor with any other team when he made the decision. At most, there was communicated to Guardiola his illusion for landing again under his orders. From there, Guardiola moved that petition to Ferran Soriano CEO of the City Group, which was unexpectedly involved in the work of designing an economic strategy to face a gigantic operation. The City, like PSG or other teams were at the wait of what your contract will expire next year.
Will another entity risk paying what a judge sets?
No way. All the teams that they may have intention to incorporate Messi, with City in the lead, they want to do it in a friendly way with Barça in a closed operation and that does not end in court. Beyond a question of loyalty and seriousness between clubs there is a obvious economic reason. Messi would get the transfer, because FIFA prioritizes the right to play, but the case would be pending of the decision of a judge who would dictate sentence in two or three years. And in solving it could condemn the team that took it for free to pay what he determined, which could perfectly be the 700 million clause. A tremendous economic blow that in anticipation of an unfavorable sentence should be provisioned from the first year just in case.
Does Messi put the season before the World Cup in Qatar in danger?
It seems impossible than Messi is without playing the next course. If he leaves in a bad way without a pending agreement of what a judge dictates, FIFA will grant him the transfer pending the resolution of the conflict through ordinary judicial channels. Yes will leave through a transfer there would be no no problem and if he stayed at Barça, which seems unlikely but not ruled out, the normal it would be one more of and it will not happen as with Schuster, who was a year in the stands.
Was this conflict worth ten months after being free?
This is the key question. The 2-8 acted as a fuze for a series of frustrations and misunderstandings of Messi with the current board for which the player has not been able to hold out any longer and needs a change of scenery and close a stage ignoring that more sensible was probably to wait until your contract expires. And more, in an election year in which he knows that Bartomeu will not continue.
How will the fans react to their idol?
In a club where no one seems to agree on anything and where everyone is factions, Messi had achieved be the single point of unanimity, but that has already been broken. It has been 100% passed in favor of Leo to sectors that begin to see you with bad eyes disappointed by the treatment that Messi gives to the entity that goes beyond Bartomeu. The clamorous silence of the player doesn't help either. Still have the majority, but decreasing.
Will he fit into Koeman's project if he continues?
Definitely. In the meeting that they had a week ago before the storm broke on technician reiterated that he it was going to be the pillar sabout the one who was going to build the team and who was going to lead the renovation of an injured team. In the same way, the president expressed it in a message after 2-8.