tbh i wouldn't sign for anything less than what mercenary greasemann gets for nothing,or that bum dembele. sucks that club values them more than the biggest player in the history of the club
I can understand not wanting to be paid less than those bums. But that pay would last one year in my proposal. Hell stick him on a 10 year deal at 10m a year if that's what it takes. Getting money like that over an extended period of time after he finishes football would probably be preferable. The club have signed contracts with the other players, before the pandemic hit, it's not about them valuing griezmann/dembele more, it's about a contract that's been signed.
I think what's happened is Messi still wants to be paid top top money (completely fair given he's probably about to win a 7th ballon d'or in jan), however he won't accept a workaround that means less money now, same money overall.