“Barçaleaks”: Messi’s “brutal” demands that in reality are not, the latest disastrous Barcelona for his idol

The children of a small town in India shout it. He is dreamed of by moguls who own an MLS team. He is celebrated by the sheikh of a Parisian club. He is cheered by an Englishman at Wembley. A Brazilian fan has it tattooed on him. And we 47 million Argentines have learned to have fun. The world is with Messi. The world, in lowercase.

The worldwith capital letters, well-known Spanish media that last year disseminated and described Messi’s salary as “pharaonic”, this week returned to the accusation against the Argentine and made public an exchange of emails of a couple of years ago between the environment of the footballer, his lawyers and the managers of the Barcelona club, in negotiations for the renewal of the crack contract. A dialogue ultimately unsuccessful, which led to his departure from the club and arrival at PSG.

“Barçaleaks”, they called the leak. And the editorial line has established a position from its title “The brutal demands of Messi”, and also in its descent: “Mail and documents from the stage which ended with the ruin of the Barça club, and which reveal the greed of the soccer players” .

Football is a business that is played for money, and Messi’s alleged “requests” have it an essential context. Athletes of this magnitude are stars who often live on the level of what they generate. And Leo is one of those who generate the most: Barcelona’s shop windows can testify to this (and let’s be honest, even those of PSG and the Argentine national team, whatever happens in the future).

Therefore, the callsbrutal demands“That the headlines this week replicated are actually the talk and bullshit typical of budget offices where millions are counted in the thousands. Especially when it comes to Messi.

But let’s go to the numbers. The report focuses on a request for a “signature bonus” of € 10 million for signing the renewal, a sort of bonus for permanence. Is that a lot of money? Mbappé just received 150 million for doing the same at PSG. But you don’t have to look that high to compare Leo: Dembélé took 3 million for hooking Barcelona when they had already paid 105 clubs for his briefcase. These latest figures were provided by the sports media Brand, historically madridista but unaware of the political issues that divide the other greats of Spain. Examples abound and amaze.

Another of the instances highlighted by The world is that Messi wanted a box in the Campo Nou to have fun with Luis Suarez and their families. Sounds like a joke, honestly. That privilege, each in its own way and in its proportions, enjoyed by footballers all over the world, how can the idol who reinvented the history of his club and marked an era in football fail to have it?

The same goes for the request to have a private flight that would allow him to travel to Argentina at Christmas, a means of transport that is common currency among elite athletes. And the emphasis is also on the request to renew Leo’s assistant, Pepe Costa, a man with a long career in the club, the person who accompanied him as a boy and who became one of the family. How can you not want me to be by your side?

The only point that can arouse controversy has to do with Messi’s obligation to set Leo’s termination clause at 10,000 euros, a symbolic figure that I would let him leave when he wanted, leaving no other benefit to the club. But the then president Bartomeu did not accept that condition and second Brand There was no reason for discussion between the parties: “Three emails lasted: the petition, the denial of the president and the acceptance of this denial”, they say.

They say in Spain that this call “barcaleak“against Messi there is a lot of scent of internal politics within Barcelonismo and its management. From the club chaired by Giovanna Laporta They released a lukewarm statement “outraged” by the leak, another, in a club that until recently has seen winning Champions League trophies. In the strictly sporty one, yes Xavi Hernandez never dreamed of having Leo back, it is assumed that this possibility is more remote.

Two months before the World Cup, focused on the national team and excited about a very favorable start to the season at PSG, Messi had to take the blow and move on. This Friday he will play against Honduras and will take the field to defend the number that matters most to him in life: the 10 of Argentina.

The world, grateful.