Although he had previously stated that he would inform everyone of his decision of whether to stay at Barcelona or leave them at the end of the current season, it appears that Lionel Messi will now announce his intentions within the coming days.
After an awful start to their campaign, Barca are coming into their own, and should they beat Athletic Club on Sunday evening, they’ll join Real Madrid on 40 points.
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Moreover, they have a winnable Copa del Rey quarterfinal at Granada, a competition that both Atletico Madrid and Real have already been knocked out of.
The Champions League remains a possibility, if a little unlikely at this stage, but for all intents and purposes, things have been looking brighter at the Camp Nou than they have for a while.
Until now.
Don Balon are reporting that Messi is furious about the leak of a document by El Mundo that documents, apparently, his astronomical salary of approximately €555m over the last four years.
El Mundo today, what a bomb. Leo Messi’s contract with Barcelona revealed on front page ??? @elmundoes
– €555,237,619 contract [4 years].
– €138m per season fixed + variables.
– €115,225,000 as ‘renewal fee’ just for accepting the contract.
– €77,929,955 loyalty bonus. pic.twitter.com/FK3I34hJta
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 31, 2021
The report details that the Argentinian had recently warned the club that if any further leaks affected him or his family he would be off, and now it seems that he will announce exactly that over the course of the next few days.
Don Balon’s headline: ‘Se acabó. Leo Messi había avisado y esto ha terminado con su carrera. El jugador sabe que en el club alguien le ha traicionado vilmente’ roughly translates as ‘It’s over. Leo Messi had warned and this has ended his career. The player knows that someone in the club has vilely betrayed him.’
If there was any room for doubt before, there isn’t now.