Lionel Messi will re-sign with Barcelona, multiple sources have confirmed. However, due to the peculiar situation the club currently finds itself in, Messi might not be allowed to register for the new season. That’s where Antoine Griezmann comes in.
According to several reports in Spain, including Diario SPORT, the Argentine has agreed to take a fifty percent pay cut on his former Barcelona wages to re-sign for the club. Reports claim that he is well aware of the situation the club finds itself in, wherein it needs to reduce its wage bill to be able to register new players.
Meanwhile, The Athletic reports that despite agreeing on a new contract with Messi on half of his original wages, Barcelona might still not be able to register him for the new season. The club has been set a salary cap of 160 million euros for the upcoming season by LaLiga as a consequence of years of financial mismanagement.
Currently, the club can’t add anything to their already exceeding wage bill, meaning that the futures of new signings Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Emerson Royale, Memphis Depay, and, potentially, Messi are in limbo.
Barcelona have attempted to correct their financial situation this summer by selling or loaning some of the fringe players. Junior Firpo and Francisco Trincao have left for the Premier League, Konrad De La Fuente and Jean-Clair Todibo for Ligue 1, and Carles Alena for Getafe. However, the club still needs to sell some of its high earners, and reports have claimed that that could mean sending Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid.
The Frenchman signed for the Blaugrana two years ago in a move worth over 100 million euros plus a bumper contract. However, he has been unable to replicate his Atletico performances at Camp Nou and could be one of the few big-name players to be sold this summer.
Fabrizio Romano confirms that Barca and Atletico are in advanced talks over a swap deal concerning Griezmann and Saul Niguez. Meanwhile, earlier reports of Renan Lodi and Mario Hermoso being included in the swap package have been dismissed.
