“Financial doping” is the only way for Manchester City to sign Lionel Messi, according to La Liga president Javier Tebas. Messi became a free agent on July 1, and despite the Argentine’s desire to stay at Barcelona, the Catalan club cannot offer him a new contract due to their financial difficulties.
Messi must take a substantial pay cut in order to stay at the Cam Nou, Tebas argued, and La Liga can’t relax their Financial Fair Play rules to allow him to stay. Furthermore, Tebas warned Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain that, given their recent financial losses, they would have a hard time matching the Argentine’s salary.
“He won’t be able to sign [for Barcelona] on the previous conditions, that’s impossible,” said Tebas in a statement to Sky Sports. “I don’t think any European club would be able to pay that amount. “Manchester City have lost €270m [during the Covid-19 pandemic] so obviously they wouldn’t even consider signing Messi [on his old salary].”
Tebas has aimed at Manchester City and PSG before. As of 2017, he accused them of financial doping, while last April he proposed more controls within football to limit the power of “state-owned clubs”. Messi hopes to win his first major trophy with Argentina as he guided them to the Copa America final where they will face hosts Brazil on Saturday.
