Legal fireworks may dominate the football scene in the days ahead as the Messi-Barcelona saga continues to take twists and turns.
TheNicheng.com gatherrs from Spanish radio station, Cadena Ser’s ‘El Larguro’ programme that Messi’s €700 million buy-out clause does not apply in his final year.
According to the radio station, Barcelona’s position is that Messi has renewed for the 2020/21 season, while Messi’s position is that he was able to choose not to renew for this season, breaking the contract this summer and leaving for free, with his period to choose not to renew, which was in principle up to 10 June, being effectively extended due to the coronavirus.
The €700 million release clause in Lionel Messi’s current Barcelona contract reportedly does not exist in his final year of the deal.
The release clause had become a stumbling block in the Argentine’s departure from the club.
The Argentine has had a €700 million release clause in his current contract since 2017 when he renewed it to a staggering £1,224,000-a-week wage. However, the release clause is reportedly not active in the final year of the contract.
This comes from Cadena Ser, who claimed on August 29th that the clause expired due to the current last year of the option being an optional year in his contract that he activated a few months ago.
Barcelona have been warning off suitors with the insane release clause number with Messi and clubs such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were to dispute the clause in court to bring the fee for Messi down, however this has now all been changed.
City are the current favourites to land the signature of the Argentine with the hope that the signing will also pen a renewal with their current manager Pep Guardiola.
The Spaniard only has one-year left on his current deal and City executives believe that the reunion will keep them together for a few more years.
Messi’s contract did give him the opportunity to opt-out of his current deal though. His contract states that the club had to be notified by him if he wished to leave by June 10, to take advantage of the clause which would let him depart as a free agent.