Cold water poured on conspiracy theories about Lionel Messi’s exit: “It’s not a strategy”

It’s over. Lionel Messi will no longer continue at Barcelona and will leave the club for pastures new according to a statement released by the Catalan giants on Thursday evening. Barcelona revealed that they reached an agreement with the Argentine to renew his expired contract, but that it couldn’t be confirmed due to economic and structural obstacles laid down by La Liga.

Faced with this situation, Messi will leave the club he joined as a pimply-faced teenager. Both parties, according to the statement, deeply regret the situation and the fact that the wishes of neither the club nor the player could be fulfilled. Barcelona thanked Messi in their statement for his contribution to the growth of the club and wished him the best in his personal and professional life.

No sooner had the statement been released, however, that conspiracy theories began to emerge. Some, like Colin Millar, began to speculate whether this is a power-play from Barcelona to force La Liga to loosen their salary cap and make it easier for them to renew Messi and register their new singings; Jose Felix Diaz, however, shot down that idea, ensuring that it wasn’t part of a wider strategy according to sources close to the move.

Tags Barcelona Lionel Messi
La Liga - Club News