With high expectations about the possibility of the departure
of the Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi from Barcelona,
speculation arose about the desire of his traditional rivals in
the Spanish League, Real Madrid, to include the player who
left the football season without any championship for the first
time in years.
The Catalan team suffered a humiliating defeat 2-8 days ago at
the hands of Bayern Munich, in the quarter-finals of the
Champions League, which led to an earthquake in Barcelona,
the consequences of which caused the dismissal of the coach
Kiki Setien and the sporting director Eric Abidal, amid
expectations of unprecedented changes in the squad Players.
With Messi bored with the state of the team at the end of the
season and losing the LaLiga and Champions League titles,
press reports indicated that the 33-year-old had informed the
new coach Ronald Koeman of his desire to leave “Camp Nou”,
while the new destination is still questioned.
When asked Luis Figo, the Portuguese star who caused a
sensation when he moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid in
2000 and was the cause of tension between the two clubs, he
ruled out that Messi would go the same way, according to his
statements published by the Spanish sports newspaper “AS”.
Figo, along with his compatriot Rui Costa and Brazilian
Ronaldo, was in a press conference on the sidelines of
the European Champions League final scheduled for Sunday in
Lisbon between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, and
one of the most prominent stars of the “Brazil Europe” team
throughout his history spoke about Messi’s position with his club.
In response to the question, “Will Messi do what I did and join
Real Madrid?”, The retired star said: “It is impossible for any
club to pay the penalty clause to terminate Messi’s contract with
Barcelona this year. There is no movement in the transfer market now.”
Figo, 47, continued: “I think it is very difficult or even
impossible for any club to bear Messi’s expenses. For me, it is
impossible for what happened to me 20 years ago to happen.”
It is noteworthy that the penalty clause required to terminate
Messi’s contract with his club amounts to 700 million euros,
according to Spanish press reports.
Figo commented on the ouster of Barcelona from the quarter-
finals, saying that “what happened is natural. The two teams
who reached the final are the ones who have proven their
competence and their ability to overcome difficulties with great force.”
