RUNNING a football club – For Dummies’ doesn’t exist, but if it did, someone should send a copy to FC Barcelona headquarters.
I’m not a numbers man, but reaching the point where you can’t re-sign the greatest player in the world when he’s out of contract means something has gone horribly wrong.
Of course, I’m talking about the GOAT of world football Lionel Messi, whose 21-year association with the Spanish giants came to an abrupt end this week.
The Argentine has been more than just a professional athlete, but a global icon while wearing the the famous Barca red and blue sporting the No.10 on the back.
A combination of financial difficulties from the club, especially during the COVID crisis, plus La Liga fair play rules meant they could not re-sign Messi who had become a free agent.
Now, seeing Messi wearing the No.30 in the navy blue of French behemoths Paris St. Germain is a shock to the system.
Having joined the Blagurana’s academy at age 13 from Argentina, his senior career has only been for one club. That is such a rare commodity and for it to be done is a shame.
Former president Josep Bartomeu oversaw a reign where free-wheeling spending was the name of the game, and smart, savvy investment wasn’t necessarily the flavour of the month.
Of course, it’s easy say these things in hindsight, but the acquisition of players the price of Antione Greizmann, Samuel Umtiti and Phillip Coutinho hasn’t helped their cause.
Barca had earned praise for signing free agents Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia (both Man City) and Memphis Depay (Lyon) this summer, however they still can’t register these guys and still be in line with the rules in place.
As a result they have a number of players in the squad on inflated wages who decline to take a pay cut, as is their right with a contract, and other clubs aren’t willing to pay the money Barca want to get them off the books.
Giving big contracts to a number of players has come back to bite them, and there may still be more pain ahead.
This is where discussion of salary caps, which are in effect in most Australian sports, comes into play. It might sound like a simple solution but when the game can transcend the world and multiple competitions, it’s not that simple just to slap a hard-and-fast limit on clubs.
Whatever the case, we know the image of the world game has changed forever.
On a personal level, I also have to thank Messi for providing me with genuinely one of the highlights of my life. It’s an experience I always look back on extremely fondly.
I saw the great man in the flesh score a Champions League goal at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Believe me when I say the noise you hear on TV does not do the decibel meter justice whatsoever.
On a Contiki Tour of Europe in 2014 a couple of my mates realised we would be in Barca the same night as a Champions League game.
We managed to scramble to together about 20 individual tickets which probably equated to well more than $200 each. I still class it as some of the best money I’ve ever spent.
The roar of 90,000 people in a stadium all supporting one team letting loose when their favourite son hits the back of the net is such a visceral experience. I did record a video on my phone but it pales in comparison.
In stark contrast, you’ve also never heard silence like when Man City’s then captain Vincent Kompany equalised in the 89th minute. Only a smattering of ecstatic Englishmen in sky blue shirts in a small corner of the stands could be heard.
Another last-minute goal for the visitors and they would head through to the quarter-finals on away goals. Luckily Dani Alves scored in the 90th to restore order.
For that memory, thank you, Lionel.
