Unfortunately, we have sign players for free. We have 700m euros worth of short-term debt we have to pay off. Yes, 700m euros has to paid back pretty quickly. We have to pay 266m by June and then another 120m on top of that by the end of the year. We have no other options but to be sensible in the market, so no big signings will be happening until we sort our short-term debt. We can release/sell/loan players, but most likely those funds will go towards the debt or towards bringing players in for free or on loan transfers.
Yes, Messi is partly to thank for generated revenue, but he isn't the only reason. Barcelona was a big club before Messi and they'll be a big club after Messi. I guarantee you that our revenue continues to rise even after Messi retires. He isn't the only reason why we generated 1 billion euros of revenue over the years. People stating that he's generated as much as he does are being misled. There is no way he generates 30% of our revenue a year. It's literally impossible. Also, he got paid over 500m euros in the past 4 years. He's about to get 33m euros in the summer from his loyalty fee. He may have generated a lot of revenue, but he's also taken a lot back from the club. The very notion that people think Messi is bigger than the club and that we won't survive is very funny. As I said, we've had big players before.... and I've heard the same thing over and over again. That when certain players leave... that club will decline and we won't be challenges again. We may not find another Messi, but we'll eventually sign big players in the future and we'll be more than okay. I just think by letting Messi go last year or this year, we can start completely fresh. We can use his signing-on fee, his wages and bonuses towards the debt and try to buy other youngsters for the future. If Laporta gives Messi a 4-year deal where he's on more than Griezmann a week, and if he gives him a big signing-on fee, and if he gives him his 33m loyalty bonus..... whilst the club is in this amount of debt, he's basically confirming that Messi is bigger than the club. I will honestly lose respect for Laporta if he does that.
Messi is our best player, but he's also 34. He won't keep on putting in those consistently top performances every game. If anything, he'll probably play a little worse next season due to his age. There is also a decent chance he might get injured next season if he plays too many minutes in too many games. Yeah, I'm sure he'll still bang in the goals and help with the assists, but he can't carry this Barcelona team to a Champions League, especially when we have no money. If he stays, he's pretty accepting he's happy with not winning anymore Champions League titles. We may do okay in the league, but let's be honest here.... La Liga hasn't been that great of a league for a while.
Real Madrid is not in a good position themselves. Their squad isn't the greatest and they also have to free up some wages. They may not be in as much debt as us, but they're still in debt. They can't afford to make those types of signings at the moment. So, we actually won't be that far behind them.
I honestly believe we can do okay next season without Messi, especially if we use his funds correctly on the right players. We could potentially get 2 or 3 more players in if we do release Messi. That adds more depth and makes our squad potentially stronger.
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