Barcelona could lose Lionel Messi due to La Liga's salary cap - Reports

La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned Barcelona that they could fail to register Lionel Messi for next season if they don't reduce their wage bill. Tebas said he hopes Barcelona can keep Lionel Messi. But due to the La Liga salary cap they would need to cut their losses somewhere else. He stated:

"Barcelona have exceeded their wage cap. I hope they can keep Messi, but to do so, they will have to make cuts elsewhere."

Prior to the global pandemic, Barcelona had the largest wage bill in La Liga at €671 million. However, according to the new rules, the salary cap currently stands at €382.7 million. This could prevent the Catalan giants from registering Messi, whose most recent deal was worth well over €500 million.

However, Tebas believes Barcelona can get out of this sticky situation and re-sign Lionel Messi if they can restructure their finances. The Catalans face a massive debt which currently stands at a staggering €1.2 billion. Tebas said:

"The severity of the situation depends on the resources they are capable of generating. Barca have to restructure their debt. If they manage that, the situation won't be serious."

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🚨La Liga president Javier Tebas says he hopes Messi 🇦🇷 stays at Barcelona but club are going to have to 'put in a lot of effort' to balance finances if he does. [@sistoney67] #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/MVB1aGEJoY

— RouteOneFootball (@Route1futbol) June 21, 2021

Barcelona need to offload fringe players in order to afford Lionel Messi's new contract

Barcelona president Joan Laporta is confident of keeping Lionel Messi at the club for the foreseeable future. However, the Catalan giants will need to offload some of their fringe players in order to balance the books.

That is the one thing Barcelona have been unable to do. The club is still struggling to sell the likes of Miralem Pjanic, Martin Braithwaite, Samuel Umtiti and Philippe Coutinho. These players are on high wages but have minimal impact on the first-team squad. The wage bill has already increased after signing the likes of Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay this summer.

Despite signing reinforcements, Messi's contract is the most important agenda for Barcelona this summer. The club announced a loan of €525 million from Goldman Sachs in order to stabilize the club finances. Barcelona have to repay the loan within 15 years on a 3% interest rate.

According to reports, Messi wants a two-year deal at Barcelona, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2023.

🎙 LaLiga president, Javier Tebas: "Of the €733M losses in LaLiga, Barcelona have half. There are other big clubs that have done a better job of containing the pandemic. Real Madrid have made a great effort, their losses are very far from those of Barcelona." pic.twitter.com/RFypTehpfj

— Real Madrid News (@onlyrmcfnews) June 21, 2021

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