“It has been a traumatic exit" - La Liga president disappointed to see Lionel Messi leave Barcelona

La Liga president Javier Tebas has admitted it was disappointing to see Lionel Messi leave Barcelona this summer to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

Javier Tebas is saddened to see Lionel Messi become another world class player to leave La Liga in the recent history. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar were the other superstars to leave the Spanish league. However, the La Liga president is still prioritizing securing a bumper TV deal for the league.

Speaking on Messi's departure, Tebas said:

“It’s evident that we always want to have the best in La Liga. Neymar left, Cristiano left and now Messi has gone. It has been a traumatic exit because for a month all has been well and it fell through late on. It hurts that Messi has left but we are working very hard to ensure the (TV) rights don’t fall.”

Losing Lionel Messi is a significant blow not only for Barcelona but also for La Liga. However, it was Javier Tebas who stood in Barcelona's way which saw the six-time Ballon d'Or winner unable to sign a new deal. At the same time, it is worth noting that Barcelona were already overspending on their wages which is why Tebas always stood his grounds.

In the long run Lionel Messi's departure from La Liga could hurt their global reach and popularity.

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Tebas: "Messi's departure has been traumatic, it hurts that he has left" https://t.co/tM5mXFNhrp

— SPORT English (@Sport_EN) August 12, 2021

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Javier Tebas believes Barcelona and Lionel Messi could have benefited from the CVC deal

Javier Tebas believes that if Barcelona had agreed to the CVC investment deal, they could have registered Lionel Messi for next season. Instead, they will now not receive any money from the capital fund. Tebas said:

"Barcelona were due to receive 275 million euros as part of this deal, but there are very intelligent people running the club, making the decisions, and this intelligence is evident from the latest decisions that they have made."

All of Spain's sides agreed to La Liga's deal with CVC Investment fund apart from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Oviedo and Athletic Bilbao. The deal was worth €2.7 billion, which has now dropped to €2.1 billion, due to the aforementioned four clubs' exclusion from the agreement.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Real Oviedo refused the CVC deal with La Liga (for 50 years), 38 out of 42 clubs agreed The clubs who refused won’t give up their shares in the agreement so the CVC deal value will decrease from 2.7 billion to 2.1 billion

— Real Madrid Info ³⁴ (@RMadridInfo) August 12, 2021

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