He's probably asking for a wage which at least matches his PSG one, which we can't give. And let's not lie, he does love money, he wouldn't have left initially if that wasn't the case.
Bringing him in is not that difficult financially if he asked for a reasonable wage. At 20m or so he is paid a little more than Ferran + Kessie or something. I'm sure the club can make it work if he asked for a wage like that.
Yep. And this is not a fantasy world either. Imagine Messi earning 100m, being offered 400m, but then deciding to move to a club like Barcelona for 25m (which is still over our new salary cap, but that's another topic).
It's clear that he would be removing a ton of his leverage just to make that happen for who?
The fans who will turn on him if he gets old overnight?
Laporta? Who will turn on him if he doesn't perform
And then say he did move to us on that wage, will the Saudi offer him as much again considering he just took such a clear reduction.
So to come here he would need some equity or say on our direction so to speak, in return to the lower wage. Be it a % of profit or turnover (which has been rumoured), and he would probably be able to vetoe signings (the famous do not believe in the project quotes) and at the very least would never be benched.
So a ton of things to take into consideration and way deeper than just being about the money.
After a think, the best option is to go to Saudi, play there initially but have a option rolled into that deal that he can go on loan to Barcelona for a season in 2024 or 2025 (basically when we return to Camp Nou).
Messi gets his big contract, the Saudi get to flaunt him now, while we get to see him return on a manageable wage when we are back to full capacity.
Maybe the Saudi even cover the wage if he is here for 6-12 month in exchange for sleeve sponsorship or something.
Wins all around.