Barcelona are reportedly concerned over the future of Lionel Messi and his £800,000-a-week wage demands which they can’t satisfy with FFP regulations in mind.
The club legend has just 18 months remaining on his current deal, and had been expected to follow a queue of his teammates in agreeing on new terms with the Catalan giants.
However, according to AS, his situation has proven to be a little more complicated with the financial aspects of the deal coming into question.
The report claims that Messi currently earns €48m gross per season, which works out at around £800,000-a-week, and so it may come as no surprise that the club would find a potential wage increase problematic.
Barca are already over the recommended level in terms of their wage bill as per the Financial Fair Play regulations, and so club president Josep Maria Bartomeu is concerned about going over that limit any further.
“We can’t renew at any price,” he said, as noted in the report by AS. “We must improve the players thinking about sustainability. We are a little above the 65 percent maximum that’s recommended.
“We don’t have unlimited resources and that is worrying. If the wage bill is very high, you are stagnating growth.”
Ultimately, it’s difficult seeing Messi at any other club given what he means to Barca and what Barca means to him having had such a successful run together for so many years.
Nevertheless, if he does value a bigger contract over that in the latter stages of his career, then it does open the door for a possible shock exit.
Barca evidently have their financial restrictions, as does every club in Europe, and so it appears as though both parties will have to reach some sort of compromise.