Spanish media rejoice as LaLiga back Barcelona on Messi £630m release clause

The Spanish media have collectively rejoiced after LaLiga chiefs threw their backing behind Barcelona regarding Lionel Messi‘s transfer status.

The saga of the summer took another violent twist on Sunday evening, after LaLiga issued an official statement placing all power with Barca regarding the player’s immediate future.

They ruled that Messi’s astronomical £630million (€700m) release clause is still active, given that the player did not issue his desire to trigger an option to leave for free before June 10.

As a result, the league maintain they will not be de-registering Messi as a LaLiga player until the release clause is officially met. 

‘What is the price?’: Spanish media asked the question on Monday after LaLiga backed Barca

Headlines have been swamped with news of LaLiga standing behind the €700m buy-out fee

Spanish daily Marca ask the question, ‘what is the price?’, before accompanying the headline with an image of Messi holding up his fingers.

Likewise, Catalan outlet Mundo Deportivo go bold on the simple headline of ‘700 millones,’ giving hope to Barca fans across the entire region that Messi’s exit may not materalise after all.  

On Sunday evening LaLiga went public with their status, showing a clear determination to abide by the fine-print of the law and also keep a grip on the world’s most famous footballer.

Messi has made clear his desire to leave following Barca’s European capitulation in Lisbon

The statement read: ‘The contract is currently in force and has a “termination clause” applicable to the event that Lionel Andrés Messi decides to urge the early unilateral termination of the contract, carried out in accordance with article 16 of Royal Decree 1006/1985, of June 26, by which regulates the special employment relationship of professional athletes.

‘In compliance with the applicable regulations, and following the corresponding procedure in these cases, LaLiga will not carry out the prior visa process for the player to be removed from the federation if they have not previously paid the amount (£630million) of said clause.’ 

This therefore means Manchester City will need to pay the £630million release clause to sign the Argentinian star this summer, or strike a transfer agreement with Barca in the market before the October 6 deadline.

AS document how fans waited for Messi to return to training, but he never showed up

This could impact the deal as Messi’s overall transfer package will now be larger, given his large wages and image rights payments.

Messi is understood to earn £63million-a-year which includes basic salary and image rights fees. However, performance-related bonuses and other sponsorship agreements could take that number to around £94million-a-year.

With these wages and an eye-watering transfer fee, City would struggle to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules as set down by UEFA.