Five years without Messi: this was the Argentine's last hours at Barça

BarcelonaBarça was not really aware of having a problem with Leo Messi until May 2021. Joan Laporta had returned to the blaugrana presidency a couple of months earlier and the leader's main objective was to renew the contract of the Rosario forward, which expired at the end of that season. "This is dragging on and it's not good news," predicted one of the president's most trusted people at the time. He was absolutely right. The negotiations with Messi to find an alternative contract, the talks with La Liga to achieve fair play, the failed agreement with CVC, the internal pressures from guarantors who did not see a stratospheric renewal clearly... It was a sum of many things that imploded on that fateful Thursday, August 5th. It has been five years since Barça officially announced that Messi would not continue as blaugrana.

It was 5:46 PM. "BREAKING NEWS. Leo Messi will not continue tied to FC Barcelona," Barça announced through its X account. The news, as sad as it was surprising, spread like wildfire. 5,000 retweets in Catalan, more than 220,000 in Spanish, and more than 192,000 in English. News that caught everyone off guard because the information that had emerged was that, precisely, that Thursday Messi, the triumphant winner of the Copa América with Argentina and still on vacation, had traveled to Barcelona to sign a contract that was drafted and ended up being worthless. "We had everything ready to announce Messi's renewal. And on the 5th at noon, Àlex [Santos, then dircom] of Barça] called to say there was no agreement and that he was leaving. We couldn't believe it," recalls a former employee of the communication department. It was one of the most intense days they remember at the offices. "Despite having reached an agreement [...] with the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish League regulations)," Barça justified in a statement issued in the afternoon, which, as they recall, they had to rewrite several times before officially publishing it.

For days the scale had been tipping towards no. But when was the final decision made? Some sources maintain it was on the 5th itself. Others say it was the day before, when Rafael Yuste, first vice-president and head of the sports portfolio, met with Messi's father, Jorge, to explain the difficulties in signing the renewal. Yuste had already acted as an intermediary between Barça and the Messis, but that last meeting was very heated. Insults even came through WhatsApp. "Perhaps more time could have been waited to see if an alternative solution appeared, but there Laporta said enough," recalls one of those who closely witnessed Messi's last hours at Barça. It is a delicate matter, and that is why the vast majority of sources consulted prefer to do so anonymously. Five years after those turbulent days, the Argentine and Laporta have still not shaken hands.

At least three contract drafts were made. "All sorts of imaginative formulas were put on the table. But they were unviable. La Liga did not accept them," they recall at the club. The last one, which had been drafted from top to bottom, exceeded 200 million euros in total. Of course, Messi was signing for five years, but he was only playing for two at Barça. "Javier Tebas [the league president] was intransigent. He rejected any proposal." By then, Barça had already decided to count 555 million in losses for the 2020/21 financial year, a decision that meant "clearing the slate and starting from scratch" – in the club's own words – but which condemned the entity to remain without a salary cap for many years. "Furthermore, it was a time when the economic control regulations were not so clearly defined and had many points that depended on a subjective interpretation of the text," they recall in the noble offices, where they qualify: "Tebas applied the legality in the same way that, years earlier, he had looked the other way".

The agreement with CVC, a poisoned lifeline that Barça did not accept

Thus, with Barça with its back against the wall, Tebas threw Barça a final lifeline: the agreement with CVC to sell 10% of the club's television rights for the next fifty years. "Had it been signed, Messi would have renewed. But that could not be signed in any way," maintains a former top-level executive. The problem was the fine print, which harmed Barça, as that agreement was intended for clubs that were sports corporations. "With those terms, it was impossible to face the operation," recalls Eduard Romeu, then economic vice-president, one of those who opposed signing the agreement with CVC. The other was Ferran Reverter, then the club's CEO. Without CVC there was no fair play. And without fair play, Messi could not renew. His 'no' was not supported by the guarantors: it is worth remembering that the board of directors had to resort to third-party money to cover the 124.7 million guarantee, essential to take office; that Barça was heading towards a new season with red numbers and that these guarantors did not want to take any additional risk for fear of losing their money if the guarantee was ultimately executed.

"The president had the final say, and he was very brave because the easiest thing would have been to do anything crazy to renew Messi. But he knew how to listen to everyone. Not just those who handled the numbers. He had also heard voices questioning his role on the field and his power in the locker room," assures someone very close to Laporta. "Seen with perspective, the right decision was made. The problem is that the departure was poorly managed, surely because we didn't expect it," admits a former executive who experienced Messi's departure firsthand. Indeed, the club had to organize a farewell press conference in just 72 hours which, under normal circumstances, would have been held with a full Camp Nou, but in that context had to be at the Auditori 1899, with the protagonist leaving in tears.

A wound that remains open

Five years have passed, but "the Messis are still hurt by Laporta since that day" because "they had trusted the president's word, but none of those offers could be fulfilled," they assure ARA from the Sports City. Since then, the relationship between the Messis and Laporta has not been good, despite the board making some attempts to reconcile.

Messi, already World Champion, could have returned in 2023, but the economic conditions – Barça was still without fair play– made it impossible. In 2024, the Argentine was not physically present at the club's 125th anniversary event held at the Liceu – he sent a video citing commitments with his club, Inter Miami – and at the end of 2025 he returned to Camp Nou unnoticed, on a nighttime visit he made alone without notifying the Blaugrana leaders. For the moment, Messi continues to play in the United States while Laporta dreams of being able to close this wound someday with a statue at Camp Nou and a tribute match when the stadium is completely finished. But there is still time for that.