It became known why Lionel Messi left Barcelona

Argentine PSG striker Lionel Messi left Barcelona in 2021 over then-president Joan Laporta, journalist Guillaume Balague reports.

Lionel Messi, Getty Images

According to Balague, who is working on Messi's autobiographical book, in 2021 Lionel Messi agreed to a 75 percent salary cut. It is interesting that not a single team player took such a step. The main demand that Messi's side put forward during the negotiations was to strengthen the team, to acquire players with the aim of increasing Barcelona's competitiveness. But even this requirement was not the main thing, for the Argentine the most important thing was to stay in the club.

A new contract was agreed as a priority and a contract extension was due to be announced on 5 August 2021. However, then-Barcelona president Joan Laporta later told Messi's father Jorge: "I no longer want to deal with Messi's contract. It's all over. I don't risk the club. I'm going to do what I want to do." After that, there was no doubt that Messi was leaving the club, and on August 5, his departure was announced.

This behavior of Laporta is explained by his mistake in calculating the club's finances. Barcelona could not afford to strengthen the squad and keep Messi in the team, despite the fact that the president of the Spanish La Liga Javier Tebas concluded a contract with CVC Capital Partners, which would allow the Catalan club to keep Messi and strengthen the squad.

We will remind that in the summer of 2021, Lionel Messi moved to PSG as a free agent.