LEO'S LEGACY

SportsBeat!

Written by Aaron Cantin

Unless you live under a rock you have heard by now that Lionel Messi has left FC Barcelona and signed with Paris Saint-Germain. Messi’s departure was rumoured at the end of the 2019-20 season but fizzled out to nothing but empty words. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, the bombshell that shocked the sporting world one year later - Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona. How did this happen when both sides wanted the same thing - Messi to be on the Spanish side for the rest of his career. Who was at fault? Is there anyone to blame? There has not been a free agent of this calibre in the sporting world since LeBron James decided to take his talents to South Beach over a decade ago and even LeBron is a weak comparison to Messi.

Source: Getty Images

For this article, we will begin with Messi’s staggering records while with Barcelona, what caused the break-up, why the Argentine decided to put pen to paper with PSG and why we may never see a player of this magnitude leave a team on a free transfer ever again.

Records with Barcelona

• 672 - Messi’s goal tally of 672 for Barca is the most ever by a player for one club after he passed Pele’s record of 643 for Santos last season.

• 474 - He is comfortably LaLiga’s record goalscorer with 474.

• 120 - Messi is second all-time in the Champions League with 120 to his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s 134.

• 73 - Messi’s 2011-12 season, when he scored 73 times in 60 games for Barca in all competitions including a league half-century, remains an astonishing high record.

• 50 - He passed 50 in all club competitions on five other occasions, with four more campaigns in the 40s and over 30 in every season since 2008-09.

• 48 - Messi scored 48 hat-tricks for Barca, including 36 in LaLiga, with another six for Argentina taking him through the half-century mark for his career as a whole.

• 34 - Messi won 34 major trophies with Barca, including domestic and European super cups and the Club World Cup in that definition. They won LaLiga in 10 of his 17 seasons in the first team, with seven Copa del Rey triumphs – including last season – and four domestic doubles along the way. Seven Supercopa wins boost Messi’s total to 24 honours in Spain – Barca won eight in that time. He added another 10 continental or inter-continental successes, with Barca winning the Champions League in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015 and adding both the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup after the latter three of those.

• 16 - He has scored Champions League goals in 16 seasons, matching Ryan Giggs’ record, and unlike the former Manchester United man he has done so in consecutive years dating back to 2005-06.

• 8 - Last season’s 30 goals won him an eighth Pichichi trophy, awarded to LaLiga’s top scorer.

• 6 - He has led the Champions League goal charts six times including 2014-15 when he shared the honour with Ronaldo and Neymar.

• 6 - Messi has also won the Ballon d’Or, awarded to the world’s best player, on six occasions including four in succession from 2009.

• 4 - He scored four goals on six separate occasions – in league games with Valencia, Espanyol, Osasuna and twice against Eibar plus a Champions League win over Arsenal in 2010. He also recorded one five-goal haul in Europe, against Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16-second leg in 2012 as Barca won 7-1 and 10-2 on aggregate.

The Breaking Point

Just over two weeks ago, Messi was certain he would sign a new deal with Barcelona, but by the time he flew to Paris on Tuesday, he felt let down and betrayed by the club. He didn't criticize anyone when he said goodbye in a news conference, but he hinted he wasn't completely satisfied that the club had done all they could to keep him.

In fact, Messi had already reached an agreement to extend his contract with Barcelona. In July a five-year deal had been agreed, with Messi accepting a 50% pay cut. The salary would be staggered so that Messi would earn more in the final year of the deal than the first. The club confirmed that terms had been agreed when they revealed Messi's departure last Thursday but also that the league's financial fair play rules meant it was impossible to register that deal.

Barca's spending limit for wages and transfers was over €600 million before the pandemic. Sources estimate it will be around €200m for the upcoming season. Speaking last Friday, Laporta explained that the club's losses for last season were nudging €500m -- over double what had been estimated. The Barca president said that, with Messi, the club's wage bill was 110% of revenue; without Messi, it was 95%. Under the league's regulations, the wages-to-revenue limit must be around 70%, meaning that even if Messi had taken a bigger wage reduction or played for free -- something he couldn't have done as the league has a minimum salary requirement of around €155,000 per year -- Barca still wouldn't have been able to register him without big cutbacks.

Messi looks to Paris

The breakdown of Messi's new contract with PSG caught Europe's elite by surprise. A source at Man City says they were "blindsided" by the developments, although high-ranking executives at the club did learn Messi was leaving a full 24 hours before the official announcement. They had not expected him to become available and had made alternative plans, signing Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for €100m while still pursuing Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

Another source at the English club says there were brief talks and "some division" over whether to chase Messi again, but unlike last year, they were never really in the running this time.

Messi said his camp fielded several calls after Barca's announcement, and another source confirmed that Atletico Madrid, after signing Suarez last year, had sounded out a potential deal. They thought it was possible at €20m gross for the first year, which was what he would have earned at Barcelona next season, but it was quickly understood that PSG had firmly established themselves as the leading candidate for his signature.

Meanwhile, around the same time this past winter, Neymar was sounding out Sergio Ramos and Messi, both in the final six months of their contracts, to join him in Paris. Ramos joined PSG from Madrid earlier this summer, but by then, it had already become apparent Messi would not be joining them. Therefore, when Messi's situation drastically changed, PSG was ready. Not having to pay a transfer fee didn't mean Messi came cheap. There was a signing-on fee and salary for Messi, and then the commission for his father and for the other people involved in the deal.

Neymar had been the first PSG player to speak to Messi on Thursday once his Barca exit was announced. For a year, he's been asking Messi to join him in the French capital, praising the club and the city. The Brazilian was also on the phone with PSG president Al-Khelaifi pushing for the deal to be done while the PSG players' WhatsApp group was abuzz with activity and excitement as they discussed their new teammate. Angel Di Maria, Messi's international teammate, was also on his case, as he has known Messi since they were 14.

Before last Tuesday's unveiling, Messi sent a message to Neymar letting him know the deal was done. Neymar had been willing to vacate his No. 10 shirt to his friend, but Messi declined, happy with the number 30 -- the number with which he started his career at 17 at Barcelona. Yet even that wasn't a smooth process; PSG had to ask the league for permission because in France No. 30 is reserved for goalkeepers.

In the end, Ligue 1 made an exception. After all, it's not every day the best player in the world comes to town.