CELEBRITY
Barca must cut £170m wage bill to re-sign Messi
Barcelona will be unable to register any of their new signings or re-sign Lionel Messi to a new contract unless they find a way to trim £170m from their wage budget.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has said that Barcelona have exceeded their salary cap for the upcoming season, which has kick-started a mass exodus from the club.
Jean-Clair Todibo, Konrad de la Fuente, Junior Firpo and Francisco Trincao have all been sold or loaned and Matheus Fernandes has had his contract terminated, but that is only the start for Barcelona.
The club’s finances are completely short. They’re in debt to the tune of almost £1bn, but the more pressing concern is their wage structure, which has spiralled out of control so badly that, according to Goal, no new players can actually be registered yet.
Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Emerson have all joined the club this summer, but because Barcelona are over their salary cap, they cannot be registered to play and it will stay that way unless they can cut an enormous £170m from their annual wage budget.
As Messi‘s contract has expired, he also classes as a ‘new player’, meaning Barcelona cannot afford to bring him back and register him unless they make some drastic changes.
There are hopes that Barcelona will be able to offload high-earners like Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic and Philippe Coutinho as well. That would free up around £55m from the budget, but because Barcelona’s wage spending is higher than their income, La Liga rules dictate they can only spend 25% of the money they save on wages for new players. That £55m freed up translates to just under £14m on new wages, which is nowhere near enough.
Because of that, Barcelona are expected to make some tough decisions on a handful of their older players. There have been plenty of rumours suggesting left-back Jordi Alba could be on his way out, and the same goes for midfielder Sergio Busquets, although there are hopes that the latter will agree to slash his salary with a new contract.
According to Mundo Deportivo, there could be at least five more departures from Camp Nou before the club can entertain the idea of re-signing Messi.
On top of Coutinho, Umtiti and Pjanic, Barcelona are likely to sell Neto, Martin Braithwaite and Carles Alena, but there have even been discussions over offloading some of the club’s top earners like Sergi Roberto or even Antoine Griezmann.
Roberto has one year remaining on his contract and has been made available for transfer, although there has been such little interest in him that Barcelona are even considering offering him a new contract.
There is so much work to be done before Barcelona can re-sign Messi. Former president Josep Maria Bartomeu ran the club into the ground with no thought, and new chief Joan Laporta is working tirelessly to try and piece things back together again.
Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.
Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.
“We’ve made history, one billion followers! This is more than just a number, it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,” Ronaldo posted on X.
“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey… thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life.”
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player reached the milestone with over 639 million followers on Instagram, 170 million on Facebook and 113 million on X.
The 39-year-old topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes this year, with off-field earnings of $60 million, boosted by his large social media following.
Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
-Reuters
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo launched his YouTube channel on Wednesday and hundreds of thousands of subscribers signed up within a couple of hours.
The 39-year-old five-times Ballon D’Or winner plays for Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
“The wait is over. My @YouTube channel is finally here! SIUUUbscribe and join me on this new journey,” Ronaldo posted on his social media accounts.
A couple of hours after posting his first video, 1.69M subscribers had joined he channel.
Ronaldo has 112.5 million followers on the X platform, 170 million on Facebook and 636 million on Instagram.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player is preparing for his team’s Saudi Pro League opener against Al-Raed on Thursday.
-Reuters
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
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