The argument about Lionel Messi’s possible return to Barcelona in the summer of 2023 remains contentious.
The topic has resurfaced in recent days due to statements made by former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez and former sporting director Mateu Alemany.
Both stated that the team had secured permission from La Liga to carry out the procedure before the transaction fell through.
However, in an interview with SPORT, La Liga president Javier Tebas has answered by providing a completely different account of events.
What exactly did he say?
According to Tebas, the notion that the league had approved Messi’s return is completely untrue.
“They did not have La Liga’s ‘yes’, and they had never asked us for it.”
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Tebas revealed that the Catalan club never took the appropriate administrative formalities for such a high-profile signing.
According to the La Liga president, Barcelona never formally approached the league to obtain permission for the operation.
“What’s more, no one from FCB ever approached LaLiga,” he says.
These words obviously contradict Xavi and Alemany’s perception, which was that the financial structure for Messi’s return had already been discussed and agreed upon.
Tebas denied that version of events, claiming that the scenario described by former Barcelona officials could not have occurred.
“It’s not true,” Mateu is perplexed. “It is also impossible.”
More on the story
In addition to the disagreement over whether negotiations occurred, Tebas cited the financial restrictions that regulated Barcelona’s condition at the time.
At the time, the club was not subject to La Liga’s so-called 1:1 rule, which permits clubs to spend freely in proportion to their income.
“If they weren’t even under the 1:1 rule, it was impossible to say ‘yes’ when they didn’t even know what he was going to earn, and even more so when applying the regulations to the salary level that would be set for him,” Tebas told CNN.
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