Barcelona could have kept Lionel Messi and have squandered his legacy through financial mismanagement, according to former presidential candidate Victor Font.
Messi left Barca to join Paris Saint-Germain in August 2021, bringing to a close his 21-year stay with the Catalan giants. He had initially agreed to sign a new five-year deal with Barcelona, but said "financial and structural obstacles" meant it could not be fulfilled.
The 36-year-old forward wanted to stay at his boyhood club and "did everything" he could to remain, by agreeing to a 50 per cent wage cut. But LaLiga's financial rules left president Joan Laporta in a difficult position and allowed PSG to swoop for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Font ran against Laporta in the presidential election in March 2021, but only received 30 per cent of the vote to his rival’s 58 per cent. He believes Laporta could have kept Messi if he had been smarter and slammed his use of “economic levers”.
"Barca has not lived up to the historical dimension of the figure of Messi,” Font wrote for La Vanguardia. “Hopefully we will be able to take perspective and make an adequate analysis of everything. And that the conclusions also help us understand that, also in the world of emotions, good will, barbecues and determination are not enough.”
Font thinks that Barca could have "maximised the value of the team" by keeping Messi and believes the financial methods Laporta is using are reckless. "The so-called levers have been closed without a plan, quickly and running, and they do not help the club's assets grow,” he wrote.
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Messi was paid a £25million signing bonus by PSG and receives £25m per year from the French club after tax, plus bonuses.Barcelona are in a poor state financially, with their group stage exit from the Champions League compounding their position. They are estimated to have debts in excess of £1billion.
Over the summer, Laporta decided to sell Barca’s future merchandising and television rights to help in the short-term. The move, which was voted on by club members, allows Laporta to sell 49.9 per cent of the club’s official Barca Licensing and Merchandising subsidiary and a further 25 per cent of its La Liga broadcasting rights over the coming seasons.
“Activating these levers will move us out of intensive care into a ward where we can receive more treatments, and soon leave the hospital,” Laporta said at the time.
“We want a Barca that can compete head to head with those state-owned clubs, or those clubs owned by billionaires. We want to compete with the strength of our brand and the strength of our members. We don’t want to be held back by those who put obstacles in our way.”
