Lionel Messi shook the sports world when he requested a transfer from Barcelona, merely a week ago after sending a burofax to the board, asking to unilaterally terminate his agreement with the club. The snap reaction didn't go over well at the Camp Nou, as the board and the fans were taken aback by such a drastic and decisive way to orchestrate his exit from Barcelona.
Yet vice-president Jordi Mestre insists “the best player in history does not leave with a burofax.”
Lionel Messi's camp insists that the Argentine megastar gave Barcelona a verbal heads up back in July after a game against Osasuna, yet the club has not acknowledged that taking place.
Mestre, the right hand of president Josep Maria Bartomeu who has yet to speak on the matter, noted the situation gets a lot more complicated once legal proceedings are on from the get-go.
“When lawyers and burofax come into it, it becomes too complicated,” said Mestre, according to Goal. “The exit would have to be very dignified and one Leo deserves. The best player in history does not leave with a burofax.”
Jordi Mestre, like much of the Barcelona board, believes Lionel Messi's opt-out clause expired in June, something La Liga affirmed over the weekend.
“I am very surprised that there is a clause of this type. It sounds strange to me,” said Mestre. “The contract was from 2016 to 2021, his last year and by not saying anything before June 10 it is extended,” he said.
“Contractually, the decision is Barca's. The club and LaLiga say so. Messi had to say before June 10 if he did not want to exercise it. “
Barcelona is hellbent on working something out to keep Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou for this upcoming 2020-21 season. LaLiga also has a lot to lose if the lone megastar of the league leaves for foreign waters in the next few weeks.
Mestre might be getting a few things out of context here. Messi might have signed his contract in 2016, but his deal starts in 2017 and is a three-plus-one — meaning he has club obligations until 2020 but has to opt-in to his 2020-21 season. He also has a clause that allows him to opt-out of his contract after each season, which is deadlined to June 10 — yet that does not apply for the last season, which is optional, according to Messi's lawyers.
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