Lionel Messi: Spanish press try to come to terms with Argentine's bombshell Barcelona exit

Lionel Messi’s teary farewell to his beloved Barcelona captivated the attention of sports fans worldwide, and it has inevitably dominated the front pages of Spanish newspapers on Monday morning. 

Messi was inconsolable as he held a press conference at the Nou Camp on Sunday – in front of family, team-mates and the media – to say his goodbyes to everyone associated with Barcelona and the reasons behind his bombshell departure after 21 years with the club.

The Argentine is the club’s greatest ever player and the news of his exit has rocked crisis club Barcelona to its core – having won an astonishing 34 trophies while scoring 672 goals in 778 appearances.

Messi is in talks over finalising a deal to join Paris Saint-Germain, and with his exit now a reality, Spain’s leading newspapers have attemped to come to terms with the move – which has plunged Barcelona into further chaos amid their financial crisis.

Marca, AS and Mundo Deportivo all published the heart-breaking photos of Messi tearing up during his press conference as he strugged to get his words out while explaining his exit.

Barcelona-based Mundo Deportivo published a single image of Messi wiping away his tears with a tissue alongside his most important message from the press conference: ‘I wanted to stay.’

The paper went onto report the common theme from Messi’s farewell speech, highligting that he did everything he could to continue on with Barcelona but only for an agreement not to be reached with the club he has been at since 2000.

Marca, based in Madrid, opted for the same message as Mundo Deportivo, before publishing the quotes that Messi claimed he even agreed to reduce his salary by half to sea a renewal at the Nou Camp. 

Marca – who also published a photo of Messi crying – reported that Messi quashed rumours he asked for a pay increase during the talks with Barca.

And finally, AS published a series of images of Messi struggling to contain his emotions – while carrying on with the theme that the Argentine did everything he could to stay at the Nou Camp beyond this summer.

But unlike the other Spanish papers, AS have reported that the ‘upheaval of his career’ will be a major change for his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their three children.

Seeing Messi don any other colours than Barcelona’s will be a very strange sight for football fans.

But PSG are the huge frontrunners to capitalise on Barcelona’s mess by snapping up the six-time Ballon d’Or winner. 

Messi is close to signing for French giants PSG, who have reportedly offered the Argentine a two-year deal worth around £70million. 

But Messi’s future has taken on another twist overnight, with the Catalans alleging that PSG cannot sign the 34-year-old icon due to their own financial woes.

Lawyers at the Spanish club have filed a complaint to the European Court of Appeals, stating the Parisians should be stopped in their pursuit of Messi based on financial data. 

Juan Branco confirmed the complaint on Twitter on Sunday night by tweeting a statement that read: ‘On behalf of FC Barcelona partners, my firm has prepared a complaint with the European Commission and demands for provisional suspension before civil and administrative courts in France to prevent Paris-Saint Germain from signing Lionel Messi.

‘PSG’s ratios in terms of “Financial Fair Play” are worse than those of FC Barcelona.

‘In 2019-2020, PSG’s salary-to-income ratio was 99%, while Barcelona’s was 54%. Meanwhile, the difference has increased.

‘It is inconceivable that the “Financial Fair Play” serves to aggravate the drifts of football-business, the instrumentalization of football by sovereign powers, and the distortion of competitions.’  

The report claims PSG will fall foul of FFP with the signing of Messi, and reveals that Barcelona couldn’t renew the star’s contract because even after a 50 per cent pay cut, the club’s wage bill would be 110 per cent of the cap imposed, according to Marca.