Javier Tebas: It's complicated for Barca to sign Leo Messi

Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, insisted that it is difficult for FC Barcelona to sign Leo Messi for next season. Speaking on RMC's 'After Foot' programme, the head of the employers' association said that "as of today, I see it as complicated. There is still time, but there will have to be an exit of players and a reduction in the wage bill. There will have to be in order to be able to register Messi. And then there is one thing we don't know, which is Messi's salary. There are still many variables". 

Tebas added that "Barça is not like PSG, who have a tap of gas and money to have a large wage bill. It has to reduce the wage bill to be able to sign players. It's like the metro, let people out so they can come in. And people still have to get out of the metro".

Referring to the 'Negreira case', the president of La Liga insisted that "I have said it in Spain, in Europe.... the Negreira case is for me the biggest reputational crisis that Spanish football has had since I have known it. That a club is paying the vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees for 18 years, whatever the objective, is very serious and damages the reputational issue in an important way".

Tebas stressed that "La Liga's actions in this case are very clear to me. We at a sporting level, because it is required by law, we have appeared, we are denouncing and we want to go all the way. Within 48 hours of finding out about the 'Negreira case', we filed a complaint with UEFA, because UEFA can intervene. What we are not going to do is look the other way and we will do everything necessary to go all the way".