Yannik
Senior Member
An interesting post on reddit about wether Messi could have theoretically played for free.
How Financial Fair Play works and why Messi couldn't stay EVEN if he were to play for free for Barca
OK guys, this is going to be a lengthy post so bear with me, but I wanted to translate and share a video posted on Marca about how FFP or Financial Fair Play works.
In this video, Michu (ex-footballer for Oviedo) explains in Spanish:
"There is a little bit of lack of knowledge, even for agents and for the supporters. When you try to sign, for example, Alvaro Medrana from Valencia. Let's assume that he rescinds his contract from Valencia, and he earns 2 million euros, and now he doesn't have a team.
You want to sign Medrana, and you agree with him that you will pay him 200,000 euros. But the amount that will go towards your salary cap is 1 million euros. La Liga doesn't believe that he is only earning 200.000 euros and adds 1 million towards your salary cap. And then, evidently when you don't have 1 million euros, you need 1 million in salary cap in order to complete the signing. Even if his salary is only 200.000 euros, the cost to the club is only 200.000 euros per season but La Liga doesn't believe that. So you really need to have 1 million in salary cap.
And if you dont have 1 million in salary cap, you can't sign Medrana.
That's why it is difficult for a team like us can sign top level talent [in the Second Division], because even if you offer them a Second Division salary, the league doesn't believe you and you need to offer them 50% of their previous contract."
I know that it has been a bit redundant and wordy, so let's simplify it:
'When signing a new player, it doesn't matter how low the new salary is, 50% of his old contract will count towards your salary cap"
How is this applicable to the Messi and Barca story, and why can't Messi sign with Barca?
The things we know:
Knowing that Barcelona needed 150 Million, after their best lead for a sponsorship was blown Laporta probably came to the realisation that it would have been impossible to sign Messi to Barcelona for the 21/22 season, at any cost. Barca could have prolonged the suffering; hoping for a deal to come to fruition between now and the end of the transfer window, but it would have been fooling themselves. This gives Messi and his family time to find their right move for them. Painfully, Messi had to go.
Lastly, could this have been prevented by Laporta and/or anyone at Barca?
Well, the answer is maybe. You see, as Messi's contract expired on the 30th of June, Messi became a free agent and his new contract would count as a new signing.
Barca and Messi missed the chance to extend their contract while he was still a Barca player, where the rules about the Salary Cap don't apply the same way. I can't blame Messi for being heartbroken with his abrupt exit. Perhaps even thinking that it might have been possible had this been done earlier this year, but it is simply too late to think about it now.
How Financial Fair Play works and why Messi couldn't stay EVEN if he were to play for free for Barca
OK guys, this is going to be a lengthy post so bear with me, but I wanted to translate and share a video posted on Marca about how FFP or Financial Fair Play works.
In this video, Michu (ex-footballer for Oviedo) explains in Spanish:
"There is a little bit of lack of knowledge, even for agents and for the supporters. When you try to sign, for example, Alvaro Medrana from Valencia. Let's assume that he rescinds his contract from Valencia, and he earns 2 million euros, and now he doesn't have a team.
You want to sign Medrana, and you agree with him that you will pay him 200,000 euros. But the amount that will go towards your salary cap is 1 million euros. La Liga doesn't believe that he is only earning 200.000 euros and adds 1 million towards your salary cap. And then, evidently when you don't have 1 million euros, you need 1 million in salary cap in order to complete the signing. Even if his salary is only 200.000 euros, the cost to the club is only 200.000 euros per season but La Liga doesn't believe that. So you really need to have 1 million in salary cap.
And if you dont have 1 million in salary cap, you can't sign Medrana.
That's why it is difficult for a team like us can sign top level talent [in the Second Division], because even if you offer them a Second Division salary, the league doesn't believe you and you need to offer them 50% of their previous contract."
I know that it has been a bit redundant and wordy, so let's simplify it:
'When signing a new player, it doesn't matter how low the new salary is, 50% of his old contract will count towards your salary cap"
How is this applicable to the Messi and Barca story, and why can't Messi sign with Barca?
The things we know:
- Messi revealed on Sunday that he had offered to take a pay cut in order to prolong his stay at Barcelona. ?I offered to reduce my salary by 50 per cent, but they didn?t ask me for anything else,? he said. ?The news I asked for 30 per cent more is a lie, a lot of things people are saying are not true.? Because, him lowering his salary any further had no further impact towards the salary cap.
- Barcelona will have to generate around ?144 million in capital gains and savings in wages in order to register their four new signings. Unless there is significant pay cut from the squad, the four new players won?t play this season.
- (Edit: Added) Without Messi's new contract (and before the reports of Pjanic joining Juve on loan) Barca was spending 95% of their budget on wages. This number would have increased to 110% if Messi would have signed the new contract.
- Barcelona (and Real Madrid) have rejected at La Liga?s ?2.7 billion (US$3.2 billion) strategic investment deal with CVC Capital Partners.
Knowing that Barcelona needed 150 Million, after their best lead for a sponsorship was blown Laporta probably came to the realisation that it would have been impossible to sign Messi to Barcelona for the 21/22 season, at any cost. Barca could have prolonged the suffering; hoping for a deal to come to fruition between now and the end of the transfer window, but it would have been fooling themselves. This gives Messi and his family time to find their right move for them. Painfully, Messi had to go.
Lastly, could this have been prevented by Laporta and/or anyone at Barca?
Well, the answer is maybe. You see, as Messi's contract expired on the 30th of June, Messi became a free agent and his new contract would count as a new signing.
Barca and Messi missed the chance to extend their contract while he was still a Barca player, where the rules about the Salary Cap don't apply the same way. I can't blame Messi for being heartbroken with his abrupt exit. Perhaps even thinking that it might have been possible had this been done earlier this year, but it is simply too late to think about it now.
