I would say they’ve probably found out that their argument about the clause won’t stand up
In recent seasons for Barca he’s looked like Argentina Messi trying to compensate for the dysfunction around him
This doesn’t seem like heat of the moment though. Apparently he has been disgruntled for a while, with manager appointments and transfers etc.
Vile from Barca you’d have to say.
Even the best player in the world is a piece of meat tom boy.
What good is he to them for the year ? He’s head and heart are gone now - there’s no money they can offer him - he’s made enough of that. A half interested Messi might still be better than most you can argue but hardly the influence you want in trying to rebuild a new project.
None of that matters. He is their player.
Look, they keep him there for a year, that’s a year where he isn’t going to somewhere else making them stronger. They’ve decided it makes sense to keep him rather than send him somewhere else.
It’s more than likely a financial decision as he brings in a tonne of money through sponsorship.
Yeah there’s that of course but it’s all very short term thinking …getting their pound of flesh for a mere 8 months
If they leave him go on a free they get no fee and lose out on all the messi business money. They are apparently fucked financially as it is. They’re not gonna lose on the double.
What they might do is negotiate on the release clause with a potential buyer to offset the loss, they also get the wage bill off as well.
A very complicated thing
How much would City stump up ?
Messi has retired 3 times from Argentina.
If there was no FFP they’d give the 700m in blink of an eye.
They’ll pay whatever they can with the constraints they have I’d imagine… probably look to leverage some players they want to get rid of too
A year left on his contract - and 33 years old.
Give em 150m and a clause that he cant play against Barca if they meet in Europe.
Good night and thanks.
Will there be a place for Coutinho now back in Barca under Keoman?
I dunno what constraints City have to meet FFP. City don’t even need the guy. They’ll still score 150 goals next season. They need to go and spend the money on Upamecano or someone
He retired once from Argentina. A myth seems to have developed in the last few weeks that he retired and went back on it multiple times. He retired after the Copa America in 2016, went back on it a week later and that’s it
Aguero has retired a few times too I think. The auld latino blood is hot.
I hope he leads a bunch of kids to another champions league or something like that and wins the World Cup. It would have been a sad ending.
Could he be any worse than what took the field v Bayern