Messi would have to reduce his salary by up to 50% to stay at Barça

"There are offers that can give him a lot of money, offers that can make him play with teammates with whom he wants to meet again, offers that would make him play in a competitive team and offers that can combine everything". This was the answer that Joan Laporta gave, during the election campaign, in an interview to the ARA. He was referring to the possibility of Messi renewing his contract with Barça. An option that, today, seems possible to fulfil. According to TV3, and what the ARA has been able to confirm, the blaugrana president and the footballer met last week to start talking about the future of Messi and the meeting ended with good vibes on both sides.

According to this information, Messi would be willing to reduce up to 50% of his salary to be able to adapt to the economic situation of Barça, badly damaged by the management of the previous directive and aggravated by the crisis of the coronavirus. At the moment, however, this is only a hypothesis, since there was no talk of concrete figures of this future contract. Barça is awaiting the four audits it has requested to ascertain the real financial situation of the club. The results of these audits will not arrive until the middle of May. Once the numbers are on the table, there will be a new meeting. However, both Laporta and Messi know that the forecasts are not optimistic.

Two more blaugrana years

Numbers aside, the first proposal of the Barça towards Messi is to continue playing at Camp Nou for two years, a fact that would allow him to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with the guarantee of competing at the highest level. Encouraged by the Copa win and the good end to the league season, the president has pledged to guarantee a more competitive team for next season, in which he would try to sign a top player to make the difference. As has already been published, the name that most excites the board is that of Erling Haaland, the Borussia Dortmund striker.

Once these two seasons are over, Messi would pack his bags to the United States to play in Miami, in the franchise chaired by David Beckam, and where he would be reunited on the lawn with Luis Suarez. During this time, he would also be an ambassador for the blaugrana club and would help the entity to get strategic sponsorship contracts. Once he hung up his boots, he would return to Barça to join the club's sporting structure.

Laporta has always appealed to "credibility" when negotiating with Messi, and has also assured that he will offer the Argentine "the best possible contract within the limitations of the club". In the meantime, and bearing in mind that the striker's contract expires this summer, several clubs are interested in signing him. One of them is Paris Saint-Germain, who, according to TNT Sports Brasil, have offered him a two-year contract and an optional third year, with the aim of reuniting Messi with Neymar at PSG.