Barca Making a Mess of Messi Saga

If there’s one thing that I would bet the house on, it would be that Lionel Messi would finish his career where it all started, in Catlonia. Now, with the club in a state of disarray, Messi has faced a difficult decision head on. At 33 years of age, does he try to carry a weak Barca team like he’s been doing for years? Or does he look elsewhere before his age gets the best of him? Right now, it’s looking like he is eager to leave, whether or not Barca will let him go is an entirely different story. All in all, this is huge news and there’s a lot to takeaway from it.

Barcelona Should Follow the American Business Model

Forgive me while I take this to American sports but perhaps Barca should too. Last summer, the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the NBA’s most popular franchises were at a crossroads, with the league's best player, LeBron James, now doaning the LA gold and purple, the team had decisions to make. Well into his 30s, LBJ had only so much left in the tank making it all the more important to build a championship winning team around him and they did just that. The LA front office traded promising young players and draft picks for Anthony Davis, one of the best players in the league and a proven defensive powerhouse. Paired with LeBron and surrounded by experienced role players, the team was destined to compete for an NBA Championship and they are doing just that. Yes, their championship window is small but all they need is a window itself. Two or three years to secure as many championships as possible and this is exactly what Barcelona needed to do.

CBS Sports

Barca’s Business Model is…. Swing Big?

Barcelona seems to have no clue how to build a team, after building one of the best teams football has ever seen. Now, the club is a combination of aging players and a large handful of young budding players. The club is now without a star striker, depth at winger and central-midfield, and a world-class right-back.

Newly appointed manager and club legend, Ronald Koeman, has an impossible task ahead of him. And before we talk about him, Barca is stupid for not moving heaven and earth to get Mauricio Pochettino. He turned Tottenham into a top Premier League side and he seems to have a knack for getting the best out of his players. Now, the club will turn to Koeman who in his defense is already making his presence felt.

The Sun

Koeman has reportedly told the trio of Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez, and Arturo Vidal that they have no future at the club. All three players are 32 or older but who has Barca found to replace them? In terms of Suarezs’ replacement, Laturo Martinez would be foolish to leave Inter Milan for this Barca squad as Antonio Conte will return to the club as manager. Conte seems to be building something special in Milan and with Achraf Hakimi on his way in to bolster the squad, I doubt Conte wants to sell his young breakout striker as the club seems to be on the up and up.

As for Eric Garcia who has reportedly made it clear to Pep Guardiola at City that he wants to join Barcelona. Such a signing would be great for the Spanish club as they soon will need to replace club legend Gerard Pique who is currently 33. There are also rumors circulating of the arrival of Valencia’s Jose Gaya who could succeed Jordi Alba at left-back as Alba too is over thirty years of age.

All in all, a lot more than a center-half and a left-back are needed in Barcelona. Change is needed from the top down. Koeman cannot fix what is broken at the club only the front office can. The model of a series of off-season long endevours for huge signings such as Antoinne Griezmannn, Ousmane Dembele, and Philipe Coutinho needs to be scrapped. Smart and affordable squad building with an emphasis on youth development needs to be sought after otherwise the club will never recover and Barca will suffer a decline worse than AC Milan’s.

Right now, Barca has their backs against the wall and that’s exactly why they should let Messi go. Messi has given more than his all for the club and it's time for the club to return the favor. If the club refuses to be smart in how they conduct their business, then they don’t deserve to profit off Messi’s greatness. Such an incredible player should not be taken advantage of and that seems to be exactly what the club is doing. By demanding hundreds of millions in a buyout clause, Barca is shooting themselves in the foot. Transfermarkt estimates Messi’s value to be approximately $125 million and at 33 years of age that’s pretty damn good. Demanding upwards of $500 million for him is simply ludicrous and no club, not even Manchester City and PSG will bite (and that’s probably the point). 

I think Barca is at the point where they NEED to sell Messi. If the reports are true he seems incredibly unhappy with the club (rightfully so). It’s clear that Messi doesn’t want to waste away the last of his prime years on misfit toy FC and you hope just this one time, Barca conducts their business in a smart and successful manner. Barca should honor the fact that Messi’s contract is indeed expired as Messi’s camp is pushing and if they want to argue that the contract isn’t up until next year, at least make the buyout clause something reasonable. Bad business conducted in the past by the club is not Messi’s doing and holding him hostage because of it looks terrible for Barca. The only positive for Barca in selling Messi is that they’d get a boost in their wage bill but that’s basically it. In my opinion, the club needs to honor its best ever player why? Because he’s brought them nothing but success. 

The sale of Messi, Vidal, Rakitic, Umtiti, and Suarez will see a large amount of money free up for Barca but this project will last years. Rebuilding will take time but Barca needs to be smart. The club needs to build around players like Frenkie De Jong, Griezmann, and centerhalf Clement Lenglet. Bringing in players like Garcia and Gaya will go a long way but much more needs to be done. My word of advice is to follow Bayern Munich’s business model. Forget the jaw-dropping signings, the club needs to build from the bottom up. It’s just sad that the greatest player to every play probably won’t be there to see it through and if he does, there might be too much bad-blood between player and club to secure the picture perfect ending that Barca are hoping for.

Forbes