How Messi Staying at Barcelona is a Bigger Problem Than Him Leaving

At around 9:00 pm (IST), Tuesday, Aug. 25th, the google search results for the word ‘burofax’ began rising dramatically. From almost zero. Deducing that the word means nothing in the contemporary context would come at the cost of suggesting that some old offices and their employees are alien. Although the trigger in search results was led by a 33-year old Argentinean. A footballer playing for a club that represented a region that resented Spain. All of this does sound messy. It was something bigger. It was Messi.

Courtesy: Twitter (@Zonal_Marking)

Lionel Andres Messi after two decades had decided to pull the plug on Football Club Barcelona and leave for some other club. It was exactly what veteran cricket journalist, Ayaz Memon quoted on Twitter.

In football terms, for a player to represent a single club for this long is bonkers. Especially in the modern context with more and more teams getting funded by multi-billion investors. And for FC Barcelona, well it was their all-time greatest leaving. Arguably the greatest to ever kick the ball. That too amidst the worst crises they had faced as a team/organization in recent years.

As it turned out, a tiny complication of dates in his contract and a meager amount of €700 million that FCB demanded from any team interested in him resulted in Messi having to stay.

But does that mean everything is alright? Well, far from it.

Once the reason for smiles on the face of his teammates, club management, and fans, Lionel Messi has now become the biggest issue at FC Barcelona. To put it more precisely, bad for all parties involved.

The Messi Conundrum

Messi didn’t want to stay at Barca. He has been forced to do the same. Sharing his side of the story in an exclusive to Goal, the Argentine said, “Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million (£624m/$823m) clause and that this is impossible.”

Now despite him adding that his attitude won’t change, given the fact that he wanted to leave, things will not be the same for him. In his own words, “It (thought of leaving) did not come because of the Champions League result against Bayern (2-8), no – I had been thinking about the decision for a long time.”

The six-time Ballon D’or winner for the first time in his career openly expressed his desire of being part of something bigger. Bigger than FC Barcelona. A bigger concern for him has been that just like Argentina, he has been used as a scapegoat by many including the Barca management when the team does bad.

A very emotional aspect of his interview was when he described the reaction of his wife and kids when he told them about his decision to leave. The tears are natural as the Messis and Barcelona have acclimatized well with each other. Something that Omar Hawwash, CEO, Chief Editor at Blaugranagram had told me about when he came on my weekly football pod, in July.

The team and the board

There are two ways one can look at how Messi staying will impact FC Barcelona, the club. The team and the board.
When the chaos started brewing in Barcelona and on the social media on August the 25th, there were only two active Barca players who actively supported Messi in his decision to leave. Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal.

It is important to note that both of them had been told just hours before by Barcelona’s new manager, Ronald Koeman that their services were no longer required. It was clear that the burofax took everyone by surprise, even Messi’s teammates. No matter how revered a footballer Messi is, things won’t be the same inside the dressing room this season. And if the new ‘project’ under the new manager fails at some stage, we can expect some inter drama between the group.

Barcelona board on the other hand was looking at Messi’s move as an opportunity. The very reason why they remained adamant behind the €700 million buyout clause for their number 10. With the board elections nearing (2021), FCB President, Josep Maria Bartomeu has been looking for ways to make the bank account look solid. The COVID impact has sent an already fragile account book even worse. Messi’s wage bill would cost Barca around €100 million.

And it’s not just him. Barcelona has been housing a big on the paper aged squad. So, the cheques they have been signing haven’t translated into results. The very reason why the club has let Ronald Koeman tell four of Barcelona’s biggest legends in the current squad that they are no longer needed. Messi leaving would’ve meant even further strengthening of Barca’s finances. So would’ve the €700 million, had it been paid for Leo.

On the flip side though, what would’ve been the impact of Messi leaving post-Barca’s demolition in the Champions League. Would Barca have been able to get the same bucks from shirt sales and merchandise, without their mercurial number 10? The Rakuten and Beko deals run until the end of this season. Would Barca have been able to keep them on board without Messi? Also, no ticket revenue coming this season would’ve been the fuel to fire.

Fans sandwiched in between the two

In the whole drama, the most unbearable loss would’ve been that of the fans. It didn’t take long for the local fans to throng outside the club office chanting, rather shouting, “Bartomeu, dimissió”. For them, it wasn’t just a player or a captain leaving. For many years now, Messi has been the global ambassador to the city of Barcelona. Even Antoni Gaudí, who helped the Catalan architecture garner worldwide fame can’t dethrone Leo.

While Gaudi did design some of the most fascinating structures across the city of Barcelona, he wasn’t able to unite a million diverse people in the city by love. Or make them wake till well past midnight in another corner of the planet, just to watch his art. Something Messi has been able to do week in week out in a Barcelona shirt. You can say that it is the gift of the modern-day and age, which Gaudi didn’t have, living in the 19th and 20th century. It is what it is.

Over the last three-four years, as Barca went through a nightmare, we saw a talented reserved player becoming a frustrated sorry figure. But no matter what he said, the fans always sided Messi. It barely made a difference to the board’s functioning, and the club went haywire.

Source: Youtube (Goal)

But one has to be sympathetic to the situation of fans here. Will they ever be able to see Messi playing in another shirt? Honestly speaking, most would’ve never given this fair share of thought, as it was never meant to be.

Messi and Barcelona were a perfect marriage. Made official on a napkin almost two decades ago. And when Messi decided to split, it looked like the worst divorce of all times. Set in motion via a burofax. Something which mattered to no one but a few offices in Spain and their employees. It does now. And it will forever.