By Samindra Kunti
August 26 – Lionel Messi has done what previously would have been considered unthinkable. The greatest player of his generation has told his club FC Barcelona that he wants to leave. On Tuesday, he handed in his transfer request, dealing an existential blow to the Catalan giants.
The diminutive Argentinean sent a burofax to his club, saying he wishes to exercise a clause in his contract, allowing him to leave for free with immediate effect. In Spain, a burofax is a registered letter with legal value to communicate something. Messi used a burofax to serve formal notice.
His contract contains a clause that allows him to leave FC Barcelona on a free transfer if he informs the club before June 10. The Argentinean and his entourage argue that the clause should be extended over the prolonged season due to the coronavirus shutdown, but Barcelona maintain that the clause has expired. As a consequence, the club believe their talisman is now under contract until 2021 with a €700 million buy-out clause. A legal battle could will likely ensue.
Stephen Taylor Heath, head of sports law at JMW Solicitors, explains: “The generally accepted position was that in law (during Covid) the player could argue his contract had expired on the calendar date stated even though when the contract was entered into the mutual assumption was that the season would have ended by then. In other words the suspension of the season made no contractual difference.
“Applying this principal in reverse to Messi the club would argue the date in May that Messi had to give notice of leaving was independent of the season finishing. Therefore by giving notice now he could not leave until next May. Also the club will argue that the reason they needed notice in May was so that they had enough time to recruit a replacement during the close season and given the transfer window has also shifted they would have less time to do so in the current circumstances,” Taylor Heath continued.
“Messi will argue the whole purpose of the clause is to allow him to assess what he wants to do at the end of a season and so in the circumstances the application of the May date is not in the spirit of the agreement.”
Messi’s decision has heaped more pressure on a club that by its own recent standards endured a difficult season, missing out on both La Liga and the Champions League. After the club’s historic 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, Ronald Koeman replaced Quique Setien as head coach, but the Dutchman told Messi “your privileges here are over”, according to Spain’s Dario AS.
Club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, is set to hold an emergency board meeting in response to Messi’s formal request to leave. Pressure is mounting on the incumbent chairman, who could yet oversee the most dramatic season in Barcelona’s modern history.
Messi has been at the club for nearly two decades. He joined aged 13 from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys in 2000 and rapidly shaped the club’s destiny in the modern game. He has since scored a club record 634 goals in 731 appearances and won 34 major trophies, including ten La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.
Where Messi might end up is a matter of speculation but most bookmakers having him re-joining with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as their favourite at 4/5, with Inter Milan and PSG generally priced as second favourites at 8/1. A move to Manchester United is priced at around 12/1,
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1734936982labto1734936982ofdlr1734936982owedi1734936982sni@o1734936982fni1734936982