Everyone, even Lionel Messi himself, did not see a different future in the short term: the renewal of his contract was about to fall and the footballer told his friends Leandro Paredes and Ángel Di María at a dinner during his vacation in Ibiza, but suddenly everything changed and August 5, 2021 went down in history as the date of his incredible departure from Barcelona.
“Leo Messi will not continue linked to FC Barcelona”, titled the club in a cold statement at 10:32 in the morning from Argentina. The bomb exploded immediately throughout the planet, the portals were filled with related news, the social networks generated all kinds of content and the surname Messi was a worldwide trend like so many other times, although this time for a different reason.
The cause explained by the institution chaired by Joan Laporta in the text was as follows: “Despite having reached an agreement and with the intention of signing a new contract, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles. (Spanish LaLiga regulations)”.
“In this situation, Lionel Messi will not continue linked to FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of both the player and the Club cannot finally be fulfilled,” the Catalan club’s message completed.
The footballer was at home waiting for Jorge, his fatherwho that same morning had met with the president to finalize the details of a long negotiation, which in the previous days had several criticisms from the head of LaLiga de España, Javier Tebas, in relation to the numbers of the Financial FairPlay.
The arrival of his father was the turning point: the story of so many years came to an end with total coldness, far from the pitch of the Camp Nou, where he won 10 Spanish leagues and four Champions, among many titles. The blow made him cryso he told it in a note given later on the BBC in London, although he had to face it to tell his life partner, Antonela, and then his three children, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.
“A lot of times we think too much and kids accept it in a way we don’t think so. Thiago I know he’s like me, that he’s suffering inside without expressing it, but it’s nothing serious either. It will adapt as everyone adapts. It will be a new experience for him and to grow on a personal level,” Messi said in that interview.
The house of the Messi was revolutionized, Antonela and Lionel’s cries while the children were at school and to think “how to continue” in the career of the soccer player who had just won the Copa América in Brazil with his friends in the Argentine National Team. The backpack that he took off that night at the Maracana was overloaded on an afternoon in his beloved Barcelona. Rosario left a legacy of 10 league titles, seven Copa del Reys, four Champions Leagues, eight Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three Club World Cups.
The relationship between Messi and Barcelona had been strained after the 8-2 suffered against Bayern Munich in the semifinal of the 2020 Champions League. In fact, at that moment the footballer asked to leave and sent the remembered burofax notifying him that he would look for a “new destination”, although the club stood up for a legal matter and retained him for one more season, which earned him the departure of the boss Josep María Bartomeu, with whom the relationship was broken after dispensing with the services of the Uruguayan Luis Suárez.
The fans did not digest the news, they approached, as happened in 2020, around the Camp Nou to ask for the continuity of Messi but history was already judged: the new destination would be Pariswith its lights and shadows in a team that buys hierarchy but has not yet acquired the greatness of others. Messi said: “Ici C’est Paris (Here is Paris)” and left “Visca Barca, Visca Catalunya” behind for another time.
