"Barca is above Messi, the decision has been made"

"Barca is above Messi, the decision has been made"

Laporta concluded the conference with a resounding no to any possible return of the Argentine star: "Messi has done everything in his power and more to reach a successful outcome. There is nothing to blame him for. The decision is made and there is nothing to do because there's no margin for it. The reason is Financial Fair Play. We have a limit and, if you go over it, the agreements you have made don't add up."

"Messi's future? You will have to ask him"

"Where will Messi go? You would have to ask Leo, I cannot speak for him. He is the best in the world, so logic would lead you to believe that he will have some good offers. Ours was the best we could give him going beyond our economic limitations."

"The losses will be 487 million euros"

"As the culprits we have to start with what we inherited from the previous directive. We thought that the losses for the year would be around 200 million, but they are 487 million euros."

"Koeman is motivated and he will have to adapt"

"Koeman is a great professional and has the ability to adapt to the circumstances. It will not be easy to replace Messi, but I have seen him very motivated. He is one of the people that must address this situation with the players."

"The deal with CVC carries risks that I don't want to take"

In the press conference, La Liga president Javier Tebas replied to Laporta, and the Barca president was read Tebas' tweet: "I will tell you that we don't interpret it this way. Yesterday there were some conversations between our Chief Executives and the directors of the deal and they didn't give us satisfactory responses. The deal carries risks that I don't want to take. At the end of the day, here it involves giving in or putting Barcelona's rights at risk for the next half a century. I think that we must not be making these deals. I would tell you that the amount set by CVC is much lower than what we think should be valued. With all my love, I have already responded to you."

 

August 6, 2021

"The situation is a disappointing one"

"The situation from both parties is one of disappointment. We were unable to achieve it for reasons out of our control. They are causes that we cannot change and others we cannot do due to Financial Fair Play."

"The squad isn't complete just yet"

"The squad isn't complete. The transfer window isn't closed just yet. With Messi's contract of five years we were excited, we were with all the offers. Then came the shock. It could have been closed two days to go, but it's not to be. From this point, we change everything. If we can't, if we have to do this, have to do that. The other side will also have assessed its options. Thursday, after a conversation, we said that the best thing to do is grab the bull by the horns and make a decision. And we will continue making them. That's the way it's been."

"The tribute to Messi will be whatever he wants it to be"

"The tribute to Messi will be whatever he wants it to be and whatever he would like to do. We would be making one every day for everything that he has given to Barca. We know the circumstances in which we find ourselves, in terms of health, economy, the time of the season, and this all complicates things."

"The losses will be more than double the expected"

"Unfortunately we will close this season with some significant losses, more than double the expected. But I also have to say that the income forecast is very optimistic and hopeful. Due to shirt sales, investors who want to enter into different assets... the growth margin that we have is very significant. Regarding the payroll, the football industry recommends that it is a maximum of 65-70%. In this case, we still have a lot of work to do to reduce it. This is also the problem with depreciation."

"I wanted to tell them that we know how to win without the best player in the world"

"I have spoken to the Barca captains. I wanted to tell all the players that Messi wasn't going to be in the dressing room any longer, and that we also know how to win without the best player in the world. There was a maximum commitment by all in making fair decisions."

"Without Messi, we have still exceeded the salary limit"

"Messi's family didn't ask for anything that weren't within the normal limits. Nothing that made the contract impossible. The parties were in agreement. Without Messi's contract, we have still exceeded the salary limit."

"Messi is not happy, he wanted to stay"

"La Liga tells us that we must comply. La Liga want Messi to continue and want to keep hold of Messi, but rules are rules and we cannot comply with them due to what we inherited. Messi wanted to stay and he is not happy. We all had the intention and had hoped that he would stay. He is coming to terms with the reality that he cannot change. He and his family know that we wish them all the best. Barcelona will always be Messi's home."

 

August 6, 2021

"A few days ago we already said that we cannot go any further"

"A few days ago we reached the conclusion that we were unable to go any further. Yesterday we had the last few meetings with Messi's father. We had reached agreements that in the end we could not give due to extreme reasons."

"The response is that he is unable to continue"

"We have no wage margin. That is the reason for all of this. I don't want to say anything about the damaging inheritance that we received. We have had less than two months. We thought it was one thing and now it's much worse. We have gone through a very difficult situation after the conclusions drawn from the audit. We thought that La Liga were going to open the rule or make it more flexible. We had been waiting, but the moment comes when you need to put an end point and analyse everything. The response is that he is unable to continue and we had to make a decision, and we made it."

"The challenge is for Barca to bring joy without Messi"

"The challenge is for Barcelona to continue to bring joy without Messi. Due to the coronavirus, we cannot give him the send off he deserves. Unfortunately, the circumstances are what they are and that is a reason for sadness and disillusion. Apart from that, the decision to preserve the interests of the institution is calming and brings motivation for what is to come. I am convinced that a better time will come."

"The deal has concluded: we cannot register Messi"

"This negotiation has concluded and we cannot register the player due to the wage cap. La Liga is not flexible with this limit. If we renew Messi, we will enter into a situation in which we would have to put the club's media rights at risk, and the club is above everything else. There's no need to create false hope. To tell you that, from this point, the motivation is at its maximum. I want to congratulate everyone for how well they have handled the situation."

"Renewing Messi was not viable due to the payroll"

"We will continue working so that the issue of the wage bill lowers. Renewing Messi was not viable for this reason. To give you an idea, the salary ratio is 4:1. That involved a very considerable salary reduction. We have worked and have achieved it in the case of some players with whom we have reached agreements, but with the rest it's not easy at all. They are contracts that are in force."

"Messi was given two more years on his contract"

"Messi was given two more years at Barcelona. The first thing we agreed was to sign for two years and be paid in five. Messi always made things easy. Afterwards we offered him a five-year contract and Messi accepted that too."

"Messi accepted all the offers"

"We had a limited time and I don't want to create any false hopes. All signs point towards this being the norm, so the player needs to evaluate other options. The time was two months and we have gone over it numerous times. We were in agreement and grateful because he always made things easy. Messi accepted all of the offers and was going to sign for five years. We wanted this phase that began this Friday to start two years down the line."

"Now starts a new era for Barca"

"Messi has made history. He has been the player with the most success in the club's history and he has left his mark. He has been the reference point for the best spell of its entire history. I hope we can go even further. Now starts a new era. There is a life before and after Leo Messi."

 

August 6, 2021

"Messi showed his willingness to stay"

"There comes a point where you need to stand firm, leave emotions to one side and take a look at the numbers. We have to surrender to the rules of the Spanish League, but we thought could have been a more flexible rule. We were unable to meet it. Messi deserves everything and has shown everything. He showed his willingness to stay. In these moments I am sad, but I think we have done the best thing for Barcelona."

"Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona"

"Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona. That was the step we took to see if we could renew his contract. To know if he wanted to stay. I want to think everone who took part in the negotiations to try and keep him at the club, and I would like to thank him as well."

 

August 6, 2021

"The investment of Messi posed risks that we could not take"

"Investing in Leo Messi brings with it certain risks that we were prepared to take, but when we found out the reality of the club we decided we didn't want to put the insitution at risk."

"The conditions are worse than we first thought"

"The conditions are much worse than what they had told us and what we had predicted basted on the numbers we had initially. This has led to losses and much higher levels of debt. This means that, with the existing contracts we have, we have this payroll of the highest magnitude."

"We were unable to renew Messi's contract due to Financial Fair Play"

"The projected debt is a lot higher. This means that we have a payroll of the highest magnitude and doesn't allow us to have a salary margin. This is linked to Financial Fair Play. For that reason we were unable to renew Messi's contract."

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August 6, 2021