Is FC Barcelona able to provide any solution for the team beyond having retained Messi?
Alejandro Panfil @ AlePanfil
After having sent a notification to the club informing he was going to make use of the termination clause and having kept the world in shock for a week, finally Lionel Messi had to stay, against his will, in Barcelona. The club stuck to the literal terms of the contract and put a lock on the door. Most people believed that FCB had made that decision bearing in mind the wellbeing of the soccer team, which made perfect sense. But the fact is that, in parallel with this noble aim, chairman Josep Maria Bartomeu’s tough stance avoided a high political cost and kept the one player that generates millions of euros, not only for the club but also for La Liga. With his mere presence, Messi makes a millionaire profit that beneficiates many different interests.
As proof, 2020 SportsPro’s 50MM (most marketable) Athletes powered by Nielsen’s proprietary athlete marketability assessment methodology -known as the Influencer Selection and Measurement Framework-, analyzed 6000 athletes of 21 different disciplines and concluded that Messi is the most profitable athlete on Instagram. According to this work, the Barcelona striker tops this list that measures both the number of followers on the Instagram social network of each athlete as well as the relevance of those residents (geographical, gender or subject affinity), the conversation generated by their updates and the economic return that they give to sponsors. Messi has 167 million followers on Instagram, which increased 27% in 2020, with 37% of sponsored publications. He leads the ranking with a total of 115 points in the classification elaborated by the creators of the study, which analyzes its scope, relevance, resonance and economic return. The Argentinean is followed closely by Cristiano Ronaldo (113 points); Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (110); Indian cricketer Virat Kohli (109); Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu (107); and French PSG footballer Neymar Junior (107).
Is his success on Instagram the main reason why they kept Messi in Barcelona? Of course not, but it shows that Messi might not be considered only as the best player on last season’s Spanish League and that soccer is not necessarily FC Barcelona’s priority when it comes to Messi’s contract.
To explain why Barcelona finished last season the way it did -that is, the worst possible way- let's flashback to the beginning of the success of contemporary Barcelona: with Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and a bunch of other great players, the squad designed and coached by Pep Guardiola became one of the best ever. That wonderful team won several titles in a short period of time: 2 Champions League, 2 UEFA Super Cup, 2 World Cup Clubs, 3 Spanish League, 2 Copa del Rey and 3 Spanish Supercup. But beyond the trophies, their game influenced many teams around the world. Even the Spanish national team won one World Cup and 2 Euro Championships in a row having a base structure made of several players from Barcelona.
Sad but true, that same club was defeated 2-8 against Bayern Munich in the last Champions League and confirmed that it is no longer the best in the world. As many people suspect, the reason for Barcelona’s fall was not the fact that some players left the team and others grew older. The club has suffered many changes since Guardiola’s departure and presidents, coaches and players have come and go. Even so, it is undeniable that the club has made many mistakes when it comes to signing and getting rid of players.
The club’s hiring policy has obviously failed and, consequently, the structure that once enjoyed a defined way of playing and several successes, was dismantled. Therefore, in the 2019-2020 season, Barcelona obtained zero titles for the first time in twelve years. To accurately follow this decline, we must pay attention to the players that Barça has let go since the club won its last UEFA Champions League in 2015: Neymar (186 games/105 goals), Dani Alves (391 games/21 goals), Ivan Rakitic (310 games/36 goals) and Luis Suárez (283 games/198 goals). If we take a closer look at the list, we must also underline the failed hires made by Barça: Andre Gomes (30 million Euros), Arda Turan (35 million), Yerry Mina (9 million), Ousmane Dembelé (33 million), Kevin Prince-Boateng (2 million on loan) and Antoine Griezmann (130 million). Regardless of the quality of all these players, what were these signings based on? Were they just sales produce at the supermarket? Were some of their acquisitions just to weaken their rivals? In the end, is Barcelona a club reaching for excellence or just a topic of conversation during the transfer window?
It’s also difficult to understand why Barça decided to fire Ernesto Valverde, the coach who won four titles for the club. He was sacked in the middle of last season to take an enormous risk hiring Quique Setién. This sort of improvisation was not likely to have a good ending.
Before returning to the Champions League after the stoppage due to the Covid-19, Messi had shown his annoyance when the team lost the Spanish League: “I said a while ago that if we continued as we were, it would be hard to win the Champions League and it's not been enough to win La Liga. And if we don't react and make changes we will not beat Napoli.”
After the catastrophic defeat against Bayern, Gerard Pique made an X-ray of what was happening to the club: ““Shame” is the word. You can't compete like that; you can't go around Europe like that. It is not the first or the second or the third time. It's very hard. Hope it helps. Now, let's all reflect”.
“The club needs changes and I'm not talking about the coach or the players, I don't want to point out anyone. I think structurally the club needs changes of all kinds, nobody is essential. I am the first to offer myself: if new blood has to come and change this dynamic, I am the first to go because I think that now we have indeed hit rock bottom. We all have to look, reflect internally and decide what is best for Barcelona, which is the most important thing”, added the historic Barça centre-back.
As Pique said, nobody is essential, but only foreigners were invited to leave: The Uruguayan Luis Suárez, who scored twice in his first game for Atlético de Madrid, the Croatian Ivan Rakitic, who also scored for Sevilla against Cadiz, and Chilean Arturo Vidal who shone in his debut with three points in Inter Milan.
At 33, Messi finally had to stay in Barcelona against his will. Even when the President of the club had stated publicly that the blaugrana idol had earned the right to leave whenever he wanted. But beyond his disagreement with Bartomeu, he can surely reboot his feelings towards the team because he loves the club, the fans and the city that adopted him 20 years ago. But keeping Messi hostage of a contract is not the solution to the problems the squad has shown on the field nor is it to the problems that the club has shown financially. Bartomeu might have gotten away with his plan to avoid public and professional shame, but hopefully not for long.