Messi: From a paper napkin contract to join to the legal battle of a millionaire clause to leave
Alejandro Panfil @AlePanfil
During these last days, since the historic 26th Tuesday, August when Lionel Messi communicated to FC Barcelona his decision to leave the club via official “burofax”, the world took note of what seems to be the hidden side of soccer: contracts, numbers, clauses, deadlines and what it looks like an imminent legal battle between the best player of the planet and his (ex?) club.
While the world expects a public statement from Messi, the president of the club, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, have declared war on the Argentinian and insist that, if the player intends to leave Barcelona, he must pay 700 million Euros due to the clause in his contract that regulates his release from legal constraints and would give back his freedom of action. Almost as if Messi, the best player in the world, was confined to the club.
Having signed his last contract until June 2021 with the chance, a year before, to decide unilaterally whether he would continue with the club, the discussion is focused in the date that Messi was allowed to communicate his decision. For Barcelona, Messi had 10th June as a deadline even if the season 2019-2020 had been delayed until August due to the covid-19 crisis. Meanwhile, Messi’s representatives argue that the delay allowed him to postpone his decision about what to do with his last year of contract.
Lionel Andrés Messi is leaving FC Barcelona; such seems to be his firm decision and it means, obviously, a big problem not only for the club, but the Spanish League and its marketing department. This will provoke a sentimental and symbolic void in the spirit of La Liga, for sure, but mainly, Spanish soccer’s economy will receive another mortal impact, worse than Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure in 2018. The people in charge of Spanish soccer will have to get extra-creative if they are planning on selling the world a league with just two clubs – Real Madrid and Barcelona- fighting for the title and without Messi and Ronaldo, or any other major star.
Messi’s desire to leave Barcelona still has the entire world in shock, because this messy contractual situation -numbers, contracts, deadlines, clauses and lawyers- was unimaginable 20 years ago, an evening in Barcelona when the future was being written otherwise.
“I heard about a boy who played in Newell’s old Boys, and that he was very special. The idea was taking him to a big club of Europe and we decided that Barcelona had to be that club. So I talked with José Maria Minguella in order to broke a tryout in the club”, told Horacio Gagglioli, player agent, to the Argentinian television.
Minguella, another player agent based in Catalonia, made an investment and sent the flight tickets for Messi and his family and also broker a soccer tryout for Leo through Carles Rexach, soccer director of FC Barcelona in those years. “I thought it was a player of 16 or 17 years old who played very well but when they told me he was 13 years old I was surprised”, remembered Rexach.
Every member of the FC Barcelona youth staff saw his wonderful skills during the tryout period in September 2000 but they had some doubts about his size, because he was very small. Consequently, Rexach organized a match in order to see Messi against older boys. “I just saw him five minutes before I decided we had to sign him because he was something out of the ordinary”.
After those weeks in Barcelona, Messi and his family returned to Argentina and during two months held several meetings with agents and representatives but it looked like it was complicated for the club to move the whole family to Barcelona. For that reason, the club almost didn’t sign him. But finally they reached an agreement between the future best player of the world and FC Barcelona. Gaggioli, Minguella and Rexach met at the club Reial Societat de Tennis Pompeia of Barcelona in order to settle on an agreement. The office was closed, there was no regular paper to sign on, and on the cafeteria table there was only a paper napkin holder with the paper napkin where this very special contract was finally signed.
The contract that changed the history of Leo and the FC Barcelona was very simple and concrete: “In Barcelona, on the 14th December of 2000 and in the presence of Josep Minguella and Horacio (Gaggioli), Carles Rexach, F.C.B technical secretary, it commits under his responsibility and despite some views against it to sign the player Lionel Messi, as long as we stick to the amounts agreed upon”.
After that contract on a napkin, everything that the world already knows about has happened: Messi became a professional soccer star who, in the last 16 seasons, played 731 official matches, won 33 titles, 6 Ballon d'Or, 6 Golden Boots, held 513 victories, scored 633 goals and made 254 assists. Barcelona seems to have made a pretty good deal, regardless of how the most important player in its history leaves the club and the city.
“This deal between Barcelona and Messi was a success: One helps the other. Barcelona might not have gotten where it did without Messi, and Messi might not have gotten where he did without Barcelona. I think it was a perfect marriage”, said Carles Rexach in 2016. This description of the relationship might be useful at the present moment, when Messi feels it is time to say goodbye, and he also believes he has nothing to pay for his freedom to do so. It all seems surreal if we remember it all began with both parties placing their trust on a napkin.